Split
by Whisper in the Woods
Summary: Flame has to choose between his friend and Hero Spyro or his one true love Ember. What would you choose, love or friendship? Also, a new evil treaten the realms, and this time it knows no mercy. Can Spyro save the world again, or will there be a new hero?
1. An Old Friend, A New Beginning

_Okay, I don't own Spyro, this is my first time, please reveiw, two dragons love one dragoness, Ripto has a change of heart, new evil appears(pant), and this is short because it's the prolouge. ENJOY!!!!!!!_

It was a hot day in the beast makers and Flame was swimming through a peat bog. Flame was deep in thought about Ember, the one and only dragon he loved. He dreamed of them together forever in a fake fantasy he made up in his head. He had tried asking her out once but it didn't go very well. She had clearly told him no in the cruelest manner possible. "At least she apologized later," he thought. He came up open another dragon that seemed to be escaping the heat in the bog. As Flame took a closer look it was Ignitus who was floating on his back. "Hey Ignitus," Flame yelled as he swam over to him. "Ahhh Flame, what brings you to the peat bogs, this usually isn't a youngster's first choice to go have fun," Ignitus spoke. "I know, I just go here to get away and relax from the rest of the world," Flame said staring off into space. The two dragons floated lazily on their back forgetting all their problems and falling into a deep sleep.

Flame was awoken when his head hit a stump. He looked over his shoulder to see Ignitus still sleeping. He didn't want to wake him so he silently got out of the bog and walked towards the portal to Avalar. "Flame, long time no see," shouted a familiar voice from behind him. Flame looked back to see Hunter running up to him. "Hunter," Flame said and smiled. He hadn't seen him since the last time Ripto tried to take over the dragon realms. Now Ripto was hiding somewhere in Gnasty Gnorc's world. "I'm headed to Avalar, where are you going?" Hunter asked. "Avalar too, I need to go to the baths and wash all this peat moss off of me," Flame said as he tried to scrape some off with his claw. Hunter turned bright red and then giggled a bit as he looked over at Flame. "That might be a problem because Bianca and Elora are taking a bath as soon as I get over to their house," Hunter said. "Why are they taking a bath when you get their?" Flame asked. "I have to keep a look out so they can have their privacy," Hunter said. "Well I'll help, that way when their done I can jump right in," Flame said running ahead off Hunter. "First one to the portal gets to hand them their cloths when their done," Flame yelled childishly. The springs weren't designed for you to hang your cloths so you had to leave them at the entrance. "Hey no fair you got a head start," Hunter said running toward him. The two ran to the portal in which the winner was Flame.

1


	2. Nothing Gold Stays

"I bet they won't even let you hand them their cloths because they think you're a pervert," Hunter grumbled as they got to Bianca's door. "What ever, you can give them their cloths; I don't find either one of them attractive anyways," Flame replied. Just as he was about to end his sentence Elora opened the door. "Uh oh," Flame said as he looked up at the angry face of Elora. "WELL, we didn't ask you now did we," Elora said angrily. "What's wrong Elora," Bianca said as she stepped out the door. "Oh, hi Flame, what have you been doing lately because I haven't seen you recently," Bianca said and put on a cheery smile. "I think his been in the fashion business lately, you know, being a critic to other peoples looks," Elora said sarcastically. "Really!" Bianca said not getting the joke. "Never mind," Elora said as they started walking along. "So Flame is tagging along," Elora. "Only if he behaves," Bianca said looking over at him. "Don't worry, I promise I'll be a little angle," Flame said drawing a halo over his head with his hand. "Looks like you need a bath worse then we do," Elora said picking a piece of peat moss off of Flame. As they neared the baths the two girls began to talk girl talk. Who is in, who's out, the local gossip, and who's the cutest boy they know. "Well I had the most inconvenient period ever," Bianca said. "Um Bianca, there are boys here," Elora said. "They're mature enough to keep it amongst themselves. "What so bad about a dot that goes at the end of a sentence," Hunter said being the innocent bumpkin he was. Flame fell down in laughter while Elora and Bianca were holding their sides trying not to giggle. "What?" Hunter said as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Oh nothing Hunter, I'll explain when you're a little bit older," Flame said getting off the ground.

As they came up to the baths Hunter seated himself at a stump and began to look out along with Flame. "Now if you see anyone please holler for us, ok," Bianca said. The girls entered the bathing area and Hunter and Flame sat outside impatiently. "No one ever comes to the baths at this time," Flame complained. "Well we're here just in case someone does come," Hunter replied. The two relaxed and dozed into a light sleep until they were woken by a yell. "Hey Flame, can you come bring our cloths to us," Bianca shouted peaking her head out from behind the wall. "Sure," Flame said picking the cloths up with his mouth. He walked over to her and she quickly grabbed them and ran back. A couple minutes later Elora and Bianca emerged from the baths all dressed up in their finest cloths. Elora was in a silky white top and had a blue jean skirt that went down to her knees. Bianca had on a red dress piece that Hunter thought made her look fantastic. "What's the occasion?" Flame asked. "We're going out to eat tonight, would you like to come?" Bianca said smiling. "Nah, I got to take a bath and after that the professor wanted to see me," Flame said. He was lying though, he had to take a bath but the real reason was that he had to go sing on the cliff tonight. He did it every full moon at 10:00. He wasn't sure why he sung but he enjoyed it very much. He entered the baths and by now it was night so the moon shown across the water. He entered wadding to the middle and he then floated on his back getting all the peat off of him.

Ember walked to the baths entrance and heard a noise. She peaked around the corner to see it was only another dragon. She couldn't tell who it was but she thought he looked familiar. "Hello," She said nicely stepping into the water. Flame looked around and to his surprise it was Ember, the lady of his dreams, wadding through the water coming toward him. Her pink scale reflected the moonlight making her seem like an angle. "Ember!" Flame sputtered. "Oh, hi Flame it's so nice to see you again," Ember said going up to him and giving him a hug. Flame was paralyzed with shock and joy of having Ember come up to him and hug him. She broke the embrace and started asking a stampede of questions. Flame could only sit there looking dumbstruck answering yes or no. "It really is nice to see you again Flame," Ember said. Ember looked into Flames eyes as he looked into her eyes. It was the most romantic moment of his life, there, alone, and with his secret love staring into her light blue eyes. Unfortunately this was all cut short when Spyro jumped into the air yelling "Cannonball!" and splashed right in-between Flame and Ember. "So where have you been Flame?" Spyro asked going up to him and tackling him. "Nowhere special," Flame said rolling over Spyro taking control. "Guys!" Ember yelled stopping their roughhousing. "I'm sorry Ember," Spyro said coming over to her. "I forgot to say hi," Spyro opened his arms and gave Ember a big loving hug. For Flame it was too much to take and he turned away and started to leave. "Where ya going?" Spyro asked. "To the professor's," Flame lied and made his way up to the hill to wait for the bell to ring ten.


	3. Moonlight Phantom

Flame stopped at the top of the hill that overlooked the town. He was panting hard now and was sweating profusely. The hill and the baths were almost an hour away but he made it there with time to spare. He now remembered that he was famous for his singing. No one knew that Flame, the muscular red dragon could have the delicate voice of the moonlight phantom. That's what they called him; it was because he only sang at night on full moons. He thought it was such a corny name but didn't care since no one knew it was him. "Almost ten," Flame sighed as he got up and began his song.

_On…… the highest…… mountain side, the most…… delicate…… flower resides._

_It…… braves the winter's cold; it…… stands there tall and bold._

_It stand up to the wind it stands up to the rain, this plant…… it knows no pain._

_The Ice Flower stands…… alone; the mountain is its only home._

_You…… are…… my Ice Flower, who brings…… me…… love and joy._

_I…… want…… to be with you forever and ever. _

_Laaaaaalaaaaaalalala, laaaaaalaaaaaalalala._

_You…… are…… my one true love; no…… one…… could ever take your place……_

_Pleases…… love…… me forever…… and ever again_

_Love forever, I'll love you forever_

_Laaaaaalaaaaaalalala, laaaaaalaaaaaalalala_

_I…… will…… love you forever, an eternity of love with you is all I…… ever want._

As Flame ended his song he heard a clap from behind him and he froze solid. "Well, in all my crazy guesses I would have never guessed you Flame," spoke the voice. Flame looked back to see Ignitus leaning up against a tree looking at him with a huge smile. "I… I can," Flame said but was cut off when Ignitus said, "Don't worry, I'll won't tell anyone," "That is some talent you've got there, who taught you?" Ignitus inquired. "I have never taken any lessons, I guess I was just born with it," Flame said as he looked down at the ground. "You really love her don't you," Ignitus said smiling. "What?!" Flame said looking surprised, confused, and scared at the same time. "Ember, you have a real deep passion for her," Ignitus said. Flame was so surprised that Ignitus had known all this time yet he had remained silent. "How did you know?" Flame said looking worried. "Well I first suspected it when I noticed that the secret admirer letters that were sent to Ember resembled your hand writing," Ignitus replied. "Then you would always act funny in front of her, behaving more politely, and sometimes even sweating," Flame was worried now, who else could know? Ember promised never to tell anyone about his crush on her but nothing could stop people from guessing right. "I do love her a lot, but… but she doesn't like me the same way," Flame said as tears slide down his cheek. Ignitus came over and comforted him. Ignitus knew what he was talking about, Ember loved Spyro and yet Spyro said nothing to her about his love. "You can't jump to conclusions just yet, Ember may love you to but she is just denying it," Ignitus said patting Flame on the back. Flame looked at Ignitus coldly as he walked to the top of the hill. "No, the only things that are keeping her from telling Spyro how she fells is fear of getting rejected and guilt for rejecting me," Flame said sighing. He knew that his chances with Ember were slim, for once in his life he felt completely helpless. When he was in tight situations he would always think "What would Spyro do?" This time though Spyro was after the same thing he was, or was he? He never did say that he loved Ember, but them again he probably did. He remembered hearing about them kissing. "Oh now, let's change the subject and talk about your singing," Ignitus spoke. "Well, I always come here at ten on a full moon to sing," Flame began. "After I'm done singing I always feel refreshed and anew," "Well Flame, words have power, you might be using magic and not even know it," Ignitus concluded. "Why don't you sing another song, then I can tell you for sure," "Okay," Flame said as he got ready up on top. He cleared his throat and thought what to sing.

_Daaaaaadada daaaaadada daaaaaadada dadadadaaa_

_Follow me, its destiny, for you and me to fly……_

_Across the meadows, up so high…_

_And through the oceans we shall swim_

_Together as one, I've already won the hearts of millions now please let me……_

_Win your heart and sweep you off your feat……………_

Ember was lying in her bed, trying to go to sleep. She was being haunted by nightmares ever night. Then she heard a soft sound that rose in pitch until she could tell what it was. "The phantom," she thought as she looked out the window. She could not see anything but house so she climbed back into bed. She closed her eyes and soon enough she was asleep in her house, listening to the phantom sing. No one that night had nightmares, in fact everyone went to sleep fast and quick. Flame might not have known it, but his fans were cheering him on in their sleep. "Well well well well," Ignitus thought. "He does have some magic in his words and… I'm getting… tired," Before Ignitus could even lay down he fell asleep against the tree. Flame was showing no signs of sleepiness, because a magician who cast the spell with words is unaffected by the spells magic.

"Tix, Mix, get your asses over here," yelled a voice. "Yes master Vice, what is it," Tix piped. "Look at this portal; it goes somewhere that's not on your damn maps," Vice yelled. "Looks like it is a new one," Mix said as he examined it. "Well those damn hunters are on are tail so looks like its bottoms up," Vice shouted. "Very well," Tix said as he set the ship for portal warp. Meanwhile on the ship right behind them, four new heroes were in a classic struggle to catch the bad guys. "Marcus, they're going for the portal!" a voice yelled. "Damn, set the ship for warp, we have to follow them Mat," Marcus yelled. He looked over at the figures standing before him. One was a meek little bat that was named Echo which had been his pet since he was three. The other one was a proud majestic dragon with green glistening scales named Babylon. "You guy's going to be all right?" Marcus asked. They both nodded and went to there directed seats. Since the ship was designed for humans that meant a corner. "Prepare your butts for warp because we're going in." Mat yelled as the ship went through the warp and into an unknown world.


	4. Confession

Flame rolled over on his side and looked out the small opening in his cave. He was an old fashion dragon so he lived in a cave like many of the elders. The light of dawn flowed into the cave lighting it up so all the formations could be seen. He got up and strolled out of the cave to the vast meadow that stood before him. He remembered as a kid running through the meadow with Spyro, Hunter, Bianca, and Ember having the time of their lives. This was before they knew of the dangers of the world they lived in. They were just kids having fun. This all changed when Gnasty Gnorc decided to imprison all the dragons in crystal statues. He remembered how long he had waited before an elder dragon finally released him. He had tried so hard to release the other dragons but could only release a couple. He did manage to release Ember though, but she wanted Spyro to come and release her, not him. He sighed and picked a daisy out of the field and began picking the petals off. "She loves me, she loves me not," Flame repeated over an over again until he was interrupted by a loud voice. "Good morning Flame did you get a good rest," Ignitus yelled as he flew over to him landing with a big thud as his two feet hit the ground. "Yah, I don't think I've ever sleep better," Flame replied yawning lazily. "Neither have I, you do have magic in your voice, it put the whole city to sleep," Ignitus said. "They already have you on the front page, but of course it is just a sketch of you," Ignitus pulled out the newspaper and pointed to a drawing of a white dragon with a black mask over his face. "They got the color wrong," Flame joked as he began walking toward the town. He had never intended to become famous for this but he didn't mind. It wasn't him to like all this attention but this was an indirect kind of attention that he was taking a liking to.

Ignitus left for a meeting that was mandatory for all elders to come. Flame was suspicious of the sudden meeting so he decided to go to the meeting house himself to see what was wrong. Flame walked into town and strolled down all the streets until he found the meeting house. "They wouldn't call a random meeting for no reason," Flame thought as he slipped into the building through a back door. He ran to a door labeled "Meeting Room" and pressed his head against it. "Sorry for the inconvenient mandatory meeting but this is an urgent issue that has fallen upon us, literally," spoke a dragon. "We have several reports saying that meteors were falling last night," "Those reports were those of people outside of town," "We don't know how accurate these reports are but if we are to believe the reports we must know how to act," "This is why I got dragged all the way down here, big whoop, meteors always fall," said a hot tempered dragon. "You don't get it do you, the Phantom was singing on the same night putting everyone to sleep when it happened, he must be connected to the meteor some how," the speaker spoke. "No, I happen to know this phantom and he had no idea what he was doing," Ignitus said coolly. "Then who was it?" the speaker said. Flame's heart skipped a beat, if Ignitus told everyone in there that the phantom was him then it would be in the newspaper and then everyone would know. "His name will be left anonymous because he did not want it to be released to the public, but he only sings for someone he loves deeply," Ignitus replied. Flame relaxed a little and regained his calmness and continued to listen to the meeting. A lot of it was just a debate about the phantom, is he good or is he bad. Flame just listened and waited until the speaker said "Meeting adjourned" Flame rushed out of the building and went to go tell his friends what he had heard.

He ran to Ember's house first since it was in the town. He knocked on the door and waited for Ember to answer. Ember opened the door and saw Flame standing there looking like he had seen a ghost. "What's wrong Flame?" Ember said coming over to him. "We need to go get Spyro and the rest of the gang, and quick!" Flame said and started to run toward the town's exit. "What's this about?" Ember thought to herself as she ran to catch up. Flame wasn't very fast and Ember quickly caught up with him. "There's an easier way to get everyone then running around to each of their houses ya know," Ember said stopping. "How?" Flame said panting. Ember took out a pink stone and began chanting something. Immediately Flame felt something enter his mind. "See, I can contact everyone with this," Ember spoke. After a few minutes she said, "Come on, they're meeting us at the meadow," They took off and before they knew it they had reached the meadow. Hunter and Bianca were waiting there along with Elora and Spyro. "Okay Flame, what is this about?" Spyro asked as he sat down. "Well I over heard a meeting that the elders were having and they said something about meteors falling," Flame said. "So, meteors fall down all the time, what's the big deal?" Elora questioned impatiently. Before Flame could answer he heard a voice shout from a distance. "Sorry I'm late," The gang looked over to see Cynder running over to them. "Oh, hi Cynder," Spyro said holding out his hand but instead of getting a shake he got a huge hug. "Oh it's so good to see you again Spyro," Cynder said squeezing the life out of Spyro. "Cynder, Spyro is turning blue, he needs air," Flame said sarcastically. "Oh, right," Cynder said breaking the embrace. "Nice to see you too Cynder," Spyro said regaining his stature. "Well, what's this about guys," Cynder asked nicely. "Well Flame was just explaining to us that meteors were falling last night, and the elders were talking about it in a meeting," Bianca summarized. "So?" Cynder said cocking her head. "That's what I said," Elora said impatiently. "I never got to finish, they were really worried about it and were saying the phantom might have something to do with it," Flame said angrily. "Well we won't know anything until I do some research on it," Bianca said. "I would suggest that everyone find residence in Meadow Brook until we figure out what's going on,"

With that the group split its separate ways going back to their houses. Flame retreated to his cave and remembered that it was a full moon tonight as well. The planet which they lived on had five moons and two of them almost had identical lunar cycles. When there was peace in the realms Flame would often go to the professors to read on science, history, and growing up of course. Flame was fifteen and he was going through some major changes. His baby fat was being replaced by muscle and he was getting weird feelings when he was around girls. He read up on puberty and often at times the professor would have to read some of the parts that Flame was to embarrassed to read.

"There is nothing wrong with you Flame, all dragons go through this even Spyro," That had made him feel better but it still was awkward thinking about his readings. "Flame are you in there, I need to talk to you, it's about Bianca," Hunter whispered into the cave. "Come in," Flame whined. "What do you want Hunter?" "Well… I sort of… kind of…how do I tell Bianca I lover her," Hunter blurted out. Flame paused for a second, why was Hunter asking him for love advice. Flame knew that when it came to these kinds of things young people would go to the elders for help. "Well, ya just got to tell her," Flame said rolling over. "Speak from your heart, tell her how you really feel," "Thanks a lot Flame, I owe ya one," Hunter said as he ran out the cave to go tell his lady how he felt. "Well I can solve other people's love dilemmas but not my own," Flame groaned. He loved Ember beyond anything else in the world. He would walk millions of miles just to be with her. She just wouldn't expect his love. "Why, what's wrong with me?" Flame said to himself. Flame rolled over and went into a light sleep where he was haunted by nightmares of loosing Ember to an evil which he could not identify. It came out of a stone that was in a deep cavern. "Aaaaaaaaaaaah," Flame yelled as he woke up. He looked around to see he was still in his cave. "Just a dream," He thought. He looked at the clock in his cave to see that it was 9:00. "Damn," Flame said and darted out of the cave to the hill side cliff.

"Okay, it's time to find out who this phantom guy is," Ember said to herself. She was in sight of the cliff where she had decided the phantom was singing. It was the only place that could carry his voice so far. She desperately wanted to know who the phantom was. She didn't think it was anyone she knew but she wanted to be Spyro. She knew the chances of that being slim but it would be so romantic. Any minute now she would hear the sweet sound of the phantom's melodies.

_Ladada ladada ladada ladada dadadadada_

_Lada lada lada lada lada lada lada dadada_

She acted quickly as she silently sprinted up the hill and behind the phantom. She couldn't get a good look at him because the moon had moved behind a cloud. She crept behind him moving slowly and steadily trying to get a better look, then the moon moved out behind the cloud and shown upon the phantom, revealing the red glistening scales and the muscular body of Flame. "Flame?!" Ember shouted. Flame looked out behind hi and saw Ember standing there awestruck. "Ember!" Flame half shouted. They stared at each other for a second until Ember broke the silence. "What's the meaning of this Flame, why didn't you tell anyone?" Ember shouted at him. "I thought everyone would laugh or just wouldn't believe me," Flame said lowering his head. He was busted. The news would get out and he would have to stop singing. "But why are you singing in the first place?" Ember asked still speaking loud and sternly. "I….I can't tell you that," Flame said lowering his head even more. "What, is it because you love me, we've have been over this a thousand times Flame, I don't love that way Flame," Ember said. "How many times do I have to break your heart before you get it," "Do you really think I like to do this, it breaks my heart every time too," Flame felt something rise in him. He wasn't sad anymore, he was angry. "Listen and listen well," Flame said angrily. "I'm not the hero Spyro is, I'm not the savior of the world, and I'm not the prophecy dragon but I love you Ember, I truly do," Ember then went and cried on his shoulder bawling her eyes out. "You want to know the truth Flame, I… love you too," Ember said looking into his eyes. She pressed her muzzle against his and she kissed him deeply. Before Flame could even return the kissed she pulled away. "I love Spyro to though," She said solemnly. Flame grabbed her in his arms and held her tight hugging her lovingly. The two stayed like that until she fell asleep in Flames arms. Flame laid her gently on the ground and fell asleep with his arm around her.


	5. Meteor Fall

"We have been on this planet for a week now, no sign of Vice or his stupid henchmen," Mat said at the top of his voice. "Can we go, there are planets out there that need are help," "After this one last scan okay," Marcus said looking at the monitor screen. They had been on this planet for exactly a week and there was no sign of Vice. He was getting impatient but Babylon had told him to stay. She had some psychic insight on things and since she was a dragon, she was very wise. The screen beeped and made a buzzing sound indicating it was done. Marcus looked at the screen and gasped in shock. The screen flashed those two fateful words that made everything an emergency and that made time of the essence, Meteor Fall. "Holy Shit!" Marcus yelled. "It's a Meteor Fall planet," "Well then that confirms that Vice is still here and probably already knows," Babylon said. "Crap, we need to find that keeper before Vice does, what's the nearest city?" Mat said frantically. "It seems that there is a city fairly near here that has a large population," Babylon spoke opening the hatch doors. "What are the local fauna like?" Marcus inquired. Babylon shifted and looked unsettled. "Well?" Mat said impatiently. "They look like me, there mostly dragons but there are lots of mammal-like and reptilian-like animals too," Babylon said. "Well with that assortment of fauna we'll fit right in," Mat said running out the door. The group of four ran out towards the city in frantic distress, the fate of the planet was in their hands.

"Sir great news, this is in fact a Meteor Fall planet," Tix shouted. "No kidding, well get the location of it and let's go find the keeper," Vice yelled happily. He had a greedy smile on his face which indicated he had a plan. Hopefully those hunters didn't know he was here and he could get those dark crystals for himself. He could see the starting bid go for a million, no a billion dollars. He would be rich, and if it meant someone had to die then oh well. "Sir the meteor resides in a subterranean cavern that is at least seven to eight days away," Mix spoke pointing at the screen. "No matter, we still have to find the damn keeper anyway," Vice said still smiling. "Well it looks like the keeper resides in a city a day from here," Tix said. "Great!" Vice said. "You did not let me finish sir, the hunters are all ready there," Tix finished. "**DAMNIT**," Vice screamed making Tix and Mix retreat behind a table. "We'll have to let them get the keeper and follow them to the cave then carry out the plan from there," Vice said angrily. "Let's start going to the cave, **COME ON**!" Vice yelled again sending Tix and Mix setting the ship up for take off. "This is going to turn out differently this time," Vice thought, "I won't show any mercy.

Ember opened one eye and then the other and yawned. She looked around at her surroundings; she was back in her house. Was it all just a dream, no it was much too real to be. She then spied a note on top of the end table. She picked it up and read it to herself.

_Dear Ember,_

_If you are wondering how you got back into the house I carried you. It was getting cold outside and you were shivering so I decided to carry you to your house. I did not think it was proper for me to stay so I went back to my cave. Meet me in the meadow when you get up._

_Love,_

_Flame_

Ember sighed in relief and set the piece of paper down. Flame was so sweet, and now that she told him that she loved him, he was turning out to be a good boyfriend. "Wait, I still can't call him my boyfriend yet because I love Spyro too," She thought. She also pondered why Flame wanted to see her in the meadow, was he expecting something, if he was he certainly was not getting it. She left her thoughts to boil over in her mind and left out the door. She made her way through town and bumped into Ignitus. "Hello Ember where are you off to this early in the morning?" Ignitus said crossing his arms. "Nowhere particular, I was heading to the meadow if you really want to know," Ember said coolly. Unlike Flame, Ember had no problem keeping her plans and thoughts secrete. "To see Flame hmmmmm," Ignitus said slyly. "How did you know," Ember said with worry in your voice. "I happened to see Flame carry you back from the hill, don't going telling anybody about him being the phantom, he could get in trouble now. "We know," Ember said and started walking off. "Okay then, but I don't want to see any dragon babies running around," Ignitus chuckled. Before Ember could turn around and hit him with her tail he flew up in the air and said, "I'm serious!" and flew away. Ember grumbled a few curse words under her breath and took off to the meadow.

Ember found Flame sitting in a meadow picking off petals of a daisy. "She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not," Flame said repeatedly picking the petals off. "She loves you," Ember said coming up behind him. Flame smiled and looked back at the pink dragoness standing before him. Her curves stood out to him more now and her eyes seemed to shine extra bright. "I love you too," Flame said getting up and taking her paw in his and kissing it. "Oh, what a gentleman," Ember said blushing. "So why did you call me out me out here, because if your expecting something like making out I don't think I'm ready to take are relationship to that level," Ember said blushing even redder. Flame took her paw cupped it in-between his. "I would never put you in an awkward situation like that Ember, never," Flame said smiling. Ember was heart warmed by this comment; Flame put his love for her above his lust for her. "Oh Flame," She said pulling him into a hug. "Thank you so much," Flame returned the hug and was bothered by her question. Did he really come off that way; if he did he was disappointed in himself. "The reason I called you here is I would like to get to know you better, on a deeper level. "Well, how deep?" Ember said grinning. "How about, the center of the planet deep," Flame said slyly returning the grin. "Well to start off, let's get into a more comfortable position," Ember said lying down. Flame raised his eyebrows and snuggled up next to her. It was just like in his dreams, him sitting next to Ember in the meadow, snuggling together and telling each other their deepest secretes. They started off of where they were born and who their parents were and where they grew up at. Then they started talking about puberty and other awkward things that two people wouldn't normally talk about. "So that's how it happens, ow," Flame said as Ember explained how eggs came out. "How can it be that painful?" Flame asked. "Well it might have something to do with a large watermelon coming out of you," Ember said laughing. Ember looked over at Flame who was snuggled up against her. He was so sweet and loving, why hadn't she seen this before? "Well that covers about everything," Flame said looking back at her. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're too beautiful?" "No, but you just did so yes," Ember said flashing her eyes. Their faces began creeping closer and closer to each other. Flame knew that this was it, the French kiss right in front of him, his dream, but something made him only kiss her lightly on the lips. Ember was a little disappointed at first, but then realized that Flame was being a gentleman again. She knew right there and then, Flame was just as good as Spyro.

"What Ember," Flame said as he lazily looked into her eyes. "I didn't say anything," Ember said. "But I thought I heard you…" Flame was cut off when Ember said, "Sssssshhhhh, someone is coming!" Flame peaked out of the grass to see a large green dragon and a bat coming towards them. Then he saw what appeared to be a humanoids walking with them. "What the heck," Flame whispered to Ember. "They looked like Humans!" Ember gasped. The group of four had slowed down since they had been running for over an hour now. Marcus was dead tired and only wanted a break. He saw that they were now only a couple of minutes away so he slowed down the pace. He scanned the vast meadow that was full of flowers, some that he could identify, and some that he couldn't. As he did this he spied something pink and something that was red. "Guys, look over there in the high grass," Marcus said softly. "I don't know, hey Echo can you see it better?" Mat said, squinting his eyes. The bat shifted a little but shook its head to say no. "Babylon?" Mat said again. "It's probably one of the local fauna," Babylon said coolly. "I'll check it out," Mat said walking over to the high grass. Ember's heart sank, it was coming over to them, what would they do? "Duck down," Flame said. Ember tried to readjust her body but ended up falling down tripping up Flame causing him to fall down on top of her in an awkward position. Mat closed the gap between him and the small grass and pulled back the weeds revealing the two dragons. "Hey Marcus, I think they're um…mating?" Mat said as he spied the two dragons. Ember immediately got up and swung her tail around hitting Mat in the face. "We are not!" she said out of distress. "Freaking A man, my face burns," Mat yelled. Marcus ran over to Mat and helped him up only to be knocked down again by Babylon. "You have a sick mind Mat, and for the last time, stop scaring the locals," Babylon yelled at him. Confused by the saddened sight of people Flame stepped in front of Ember and made sure that who ever theses people were, that they couldn't get to her. "Relax lover boy, we aren't going to hurt your girlfriend," Mat said only to be hit by Babylon again. "Sorry for my rude friend but are you locals" Babylon said in a nice voice. "They… they speak… our language," Flame managed to stutter. "Yah, we know all the languages known by are employers, well, at least Babylon does," Marcus said. "My name is Marcus, this is Babylon, and you have already met Mat," Marcus said laughing. "Um… okay, so what do you want?" Ember said regaining some of her calmness. "We need to schedule a meeting with all of your, people in charge," Marcus said quickly. "The elders?" Flame asked. "Yes, now time is running short, I'll explain everything at the meeting," Marcus said. "Ember got out her pink stone and contacted Ignitus. "Hey, Ignitus, we have some people here that need to have a meeting with the elders," Ember said. "Why?" Ignitus replied. "They're really in a hurry, they said it will be all explained at the meeting," Ember said. "Okay," Ignitus grumbled. "He agreed, come on, let's go to the meeting house," Ember said running towards town with her newfound companions. The journey began there, a new quest to save the realms.

Spyro sat up on his bed and sighed. He was always so tired, between the dojo and the elders bugging him he always got mobbed by people in the streets asking for his autograph. He went down the stairs to find Cynder asleep on his couch, still in dream land. Cynder couldn't find a hotel so Spyro offered his house. At first it sounded rude but Cynder didn't even think twice before saying yes. Spyro knew that Cynder had a huge crush on him but he didn't love her back. She had killed one of his mentors in her evil rampage and he still could not completely forgive her for it. The other reason was that he loved Ember. He never technically told her he loved her but they had kissed once. It was a starry night and he had decided to take Ember out to the hill. They were star gazing but that eventually turned into them admiring the curves of each others bodies. Then Spyro crept closer to Ember and Ember to him. Then they just stared at one another until Spyro got the courage to go up and kiss her. Spyro sighed, he would do anything just to relive that moment. He silently walked out of the house and opened the door to the empty streets of Meadow Brook. "Let's think, where would Ember be right now," Spyro said to himself. "Maybe she's at her house," "No Spyro, she's not there anymore," said a voice down the street. Spyro turned his head to see Ignitus walking down the street. "She called me just now, she's in the meadow," Ignitus spoke. "She left though, follow me, there's a mandatory meeting for you and your friends to come too," "And don't worry, I already took the liberty of calling them all," "What was Ember doing in the meadow?" Spyro asked. "Probably just picking daisies," Ignitus sighed. "She hates daisies," Spyro said. "I don't know what she was doing, I'm not psychic," Ignitus grumbled. "Why won't you tell me?" Spyro asked angrily. "Because, it's a secrete," Ignitus said winking at him. "What ever," Spyro said running ahead of Ignitus. "Bet ya can't catch me old timer," Spyro laughed. "Oh really?" Ignitus said taking off the ground flying. He soared over Spyro like a speeding bullet. "No fair!" Spyro yelled.

The elders settled down into their seats as did Spyro, Elora, Cynder, Hunter, Bianca, Flame, and Ember. Spyro had offered Ember a seat next to him but she had said Flame had already asked her to sit next to him. Spyro thought that it was weird, when did they become so cozy together. "Oh well, Ember is just probably being polite," Spyro thought. A large black scaled dragon moved to the podium and began the meeting. "I will not be the speaker, there seems to be two humans here with something important to say," the dragon said stepping off the stage. Marcus and Mat came out with Babylon onto the stage and starred at the vast crowd of mainly older dragons. Marcus, however, did see a group of young adults that included four dragons, a cheetah, a bunny, and a faun. The attention however shifted to Babylon as the elders got bored with the humans. Ignitus's breath was taken away by the sight of her. She was so beautiful, with her glistening green scales, and her sky blue eyes. How it brought back memories of his mate, Erika. Ignitus snapped back to reality when one of the humans pulled out a big chart that was labeled "Meteor Fall" "Now this is why we are here, to discuss with you the phenomenon know as Meteor Fall," Marcus began. "When the universe was created there was something called the big star," "It was thought to have collapsed and created the universe," "Well, this is incorrect because the big star in fact had a super nova," "The bits and pieces of this star formed into meteors and flew about the universe, hitting into planets," "When this happens the meteor can lie dormant for millions and billions of years," "Now when it activates, it unleashes an unspeakable evil that destroys the planet," "Now what us hunters do is stop this by splitting the meteor and cutting its power," "Now before it activates there are crystals that are priceless inside the meteor that go for a price," "There is a criminal know as Vice on your planet that would do anything for these crystals," "Unfortunately, when you take the crystals out it activates the meteor," "To get to the meteor we have to find a keeper, someone who might be the prophecy person or the savior," "This person will let down the shield that surrounds the meteor," "Well, that's it," Marcus panted as he walked off stage to get some water. "We'll take questions now," Babylon said walking up. Bianca stood up, "I think we should believe this because in are earliest recordings of history, there was said to be a dark meteor that fell to the planet," Bianca said. "That basically matches all my theories," the professor said walking in. "Next time there is a big meeting call me," "Spyro, that means you are the one that unlocks the barrier," Ember said looking over at him. "I never get a break do I?" Spyro complained. "Well we'll believe this story but how do we know where the meteor is?" Ignitus said. "Well that's where our scanner comes in, it can tell us where it is," Mat said. "It might take a while to get there though. "Well, if you give me the coordinates then I'll send you there through a portal," the professor replied. "Great, we'll need a week to get ready though, so rest up," Marcus said coming back onto the stage. "We can offer you residence in the town," Ignitus said. "Okay then, we'll bring our ship down and be right back," Babylon said. "Well with that I'd say the meeting is over," the black dragon said walking away. "Gosh darn it, when will I get a break," Spyro said angrily.


	6. Love is in the Air

"Well, they need a tour of the city right?" Ember said thoughtfully as they left the meeting house.

"No, I want to get all the equipment up and running," Marcus said.

"I'll help you with that," Mat said walking with Marcus out of town.

"I'd love to see the rest of the town," Babylon said.

"Bianca and I are going shopping," Elora said. "If we're going to go on rough terrain and kick butt I need new stuff,"

"Can I come?" Hunter said walking over.

"You guys are hopeless," Ember grumbled.

"I volunteer Ignitus," Spyro said smiling slyly.

"I second that motion," Flame said grinning.

"Ok then Ignitus you get to take Babylon on a tour of the city," Ember said to him as he came out.

"What?!" Ignitus yelled.

"Wow, that's so nice of you," Babylon said walking past him. "Spyro went over to Babylon and whispered something in her ear.

"Ask him for a massage, it's like heaven," Babylon was confused by this comment, why would she want to get a massage?

"Ok Ignitus, let's go," Babylon shouted. Spyro giggled as they passed by. Ignitus didn't know it, but he had hooked him up with a hot chick.

"What did you say Spyro?" Ember asked looking over at him.

"Nothing," Spyro replied.

"Come on Bianca and Hunter, let's go," Elora shouted as she ran ahead of them.

"Well that leaves us with you, Cynder, Flame, and me," Spyro said.

"Spyro, let's go to the fountain and get a drink," Cynder said grabbing his hands. Spyro didn't have the heart to say no so he just let her drag him along.

"Well, now it's just you and me," Ember said flashing her eyes.

"Want do you want to do?" Flame asked.

"Well we could always go back to the meadow and pick up when we left off," Ember said seductively.

"But don't you still love Spyro?" Flame asked looking at her with concern.

"I know…but that's no reason I can't get to know you better," She said.

"Only if you are sure it's okay," Flame said still unsure about the whole idea.

"I'm sure," Ember said walking up to him, taking her tail and sliding it under his chin.

"O….kay," Flame said following her to the meadow. He was embarrassed to admit it but he wasn't exactly good at the whole love thing. He knew how to be a gentlemen but he was unsure about everything else. The groups were split up and guess what, love was in the air.

"This is the museum where we hold all are artifacts and old history," Ignitus said as he took her into the center of town. They had been walking for almost an hour now and his feet were getting tired. They had been to the cathedral, the racing arena, and the grand fountain in the center of town.

"I'm getting tired of bumping into people; can we go somewhere where there are less people?" Babylon said squeezing through a crowd.

"Sure, I'll show you the reflecting pools," Ignitus said walking toward a less coward area. The two went through backstreets and allies until they came to the town exit. He then led her down a large hill until they came to a set of lakes. Babylon thought it was spectacular; the water was so clean that you could see yourself like in a mirror. "It's so beautiful," Babylon said as she ran over to the water.

"I know, this is where I took Erika on are first date," Ignitus said looking up at the sky.

"She's in a better place now though,"

"I'm so sorry," Babylon said patting him on the back.

"Hey, it's all right," Ignitus said lying down in the grass. Babylon slid in right next to him making him feel uncomfortable. She didn't seem to notice and moved even closer. Then Babylon's thoughts went to what Spyro had said. She knew what a massage was but she had never had one before.

"Hey Ignitus, can you give me a massage," Babylon asked as she looked over at him. Ignitus almost choked at the sound of these words. Damnit Spyro why did you have to tell her that.

"No offense, but I just met you and I wouldn't be comfortable giving you one," Ignitus said calmly.

"Why, it's just a massage," Babylon said looking at him funny.

"Did Spyro put you up you this?" Ignitus questioned.

"Yeah, but what is the big deal?" Babylon said puzzled. Ignitus came really close to her head and whispered something in her ear.

"What!" Babylon shouted looking over at Ignitus. "Why that little purple squirt," Babylon said.

"Yes, he can be a hand full at times but he still saved our world a dozen times," Ignitus said.

"So the dragons here get pains, when they're growing up," Babylon said cocking here head.

"Yes, didn't you get them?" Ignitus said puzzled.

"No," Babylon replied.

"Well, then your probably a hard scaled dragon," Ignitus said.

"A what?" Babylon said.

"A hard scaled dragon, they look like regular dragons but there are differences, like hard scaled dragons have much thicker scales and sharper claws, they also are born with everything they need, but can't use them until they reach adulthood," Ignitus said. "Well, that was perhaps the most awkward discussion I ever had with someone," Babylon said.

"Ditto," Ignitus said chuckling.

"Well, what next?" Babylon said looking over at Ignitus. Ignitus was snoring away, sleeping off all the walking. "Okay, sleep," Babylon said closing her eyes.

Flame sat in the meadow with Ember resting her head on his muscular chest. Flame was looking up at the sky thanking each and every one of the Gods for Ember. He was so happy that she finally loved him the way he loved her. Ember was listening to the steady heart beat of Flame. "Beat…beat…beat…beat…beat." She would never know what to do if it stopped. She then looked up at Flame, his gentleman-like characteristics were so attracting. He knew that she still loved Spyro but he didn't seem to care.

"I love you Flame," Ember said looking into his deep blue eyes.

"I love you too," Flame said looking into her blue eyes. "This is the perfect moment to tell Flame about wanting to take Spyro out," Ember thought.

"Flame, you know I still love Spyro, right?" Ember said.

"Yes, I know," Flame said. "Would you hate me if I went out on one date with him?" Ember said looking at him. Flame's heart skipped a beat as he heard this question. He remembered now that he still could be rejected if Spyro turned out to be better then he was. He could never hate Ember though, unless she did something unspeakable.

"I could never hate you Ember," Flame said thoughtfully.

"Oh Flame, your orange is showing," Ember said hugging him. Flame was born a fiery orange but as he got older he grew into a red. People always said this when he was acting sweet. "You really are a gentleman," Ember said squeezing him tighter. With that she resumed her previous position on his chest, listening to the heart beat of a red dragon named Flame.

"We're not going shopping are we," Hunter said walking with Bianca.

"No, I just didn't want to get stuck giving a tour," Bianca said.

"Well I am, so bye," Elora said walking to the store.

"Well, what now," Bianca said. Hunter saw this as the perfect opportunity to tell Bianca that he loved her.

"Follow me," Hunter said grabbing her hand and running towards the towns exit. "Where are we going?" Bianca asked.

"To the cliff, I got to tell you something," Hunter said still running. Hunter and Bianca ran halfway to the cliff then they slowed down to a slow jog when it was in sight. Hunter was worried about what would happen when he told her. Would she say she loved him to, or would she reject him? He would just have to ask and then find out what she would say. Hunter pulled Bianca up and sat down next to her. Bianca was wondering what Hunter wanted. What would posses him to drag her up here. She also loved Hunter; from the first time she had laid eyes on him she had to have him. She was worried though that he loved someone else so she kept it a secret.

"Wow, it's so nice up here," Bianca said looking out at the town from where she sat.

"I know," Hunter said. "Okay, this is the moment, I'm going to tell her I love her," Hunter thought. "Bianca, I've got to tell you something," Hunter said looking over at her. He admired every curve on her delicate body, every part of her he loved, especially her personality.

"Well, what is it," Bianca said calmly looking over at him. She admired Hunter's muscular chest and his endurance. She loved most however his bumpkin-like personality.

"From the first time I saw you, even though you were attacking me, you were so beautiful," Hunter began. "Then when you turned good I began to love your personality, you were just perfect," Bianca almost fell off the cliff when Hunter began to unload his thoughts on her. She was so surprised at this sudden change of character from Hunter. The innocent bumpkin was telling her how beautiful she was. "What I'm getting at is…Bianca, I really, really like you, and um…," Hunter said stuttering.

"Hunter, are you alright?" Bianca said looking over at the cheetah that was now sweating.

"Come on stupid, say it, three words," Hunter screamed in his mind. "Bianca…I…love…you," Hunter finally stuttered out. Bianca finally lost her balance and began slipping off the cliff.

"Aaaaah," she screamed as she slipped. Hunter grabbed her hand and quickly and pulled her back up. She just happened to land in his arms.

"I love you too," Bianca whispered into his ear. With that their faces began to slide closer and closer together. "This is perfect man, perfect," Hunter thought.

"Well, then that makes us a couple right?" Hunter whispered to Bianca. Bianca started laughing at the stupid question which made Hunter feel bad.

"Of coarse we are silly," Bianca laughed. Hunter went back to his cheery mood and began tickling her. "Hunter, stop," Bianca said laughing even louder.

"What's the magic word?" Hunter said continuing to tickle her.

"Pleeease!" Bianca said still laughing. Hunter stopped and let Bianca get up. She embraced him in her arms and he returned the embrace hugging her even tighter. "I love you so much," Bianca said,

'"I love you more," Hunter said childishly. With that the two began to have a love fight until they got tired and they fell asleep in each others embrace.

"Look Spyro, it's so beautiful outside," Cynder said walking over to the fountain which was just outside of town in a wood. Cynder put her head down to get a drink as Spyro sat down in a patch of leaves. "Aren't you thirsty?" Cynder asked looking over at the depressed dragon.

"No, not really," Spyro said picking at the leaves. Spyro loved Cynder as a friend but not a girlfriend. He didn't want to break her heart for two main reasons, one he wasn't the kind of dragon to do that, and two because he didn't want Cynder to turn evil again.

"Come on Spyro, I don't bite, anymore," Cynder said splashing water on Spyro. Spyro laughed and tackled her causing them to roll over and over until they hit a rock. Then they began wrestling with each other. That was one thing Spyro liked about Cynder, she was not afraid to wrestle with the boys.

"Oh come on Spyro," Cynder said laughing as she rolled him over, "You can do better than that,"

"Okay, you asked for it," Spyro said using all her strength to roll her over and pin her down. Spyro then realized what he had done and quickly rolled off of her. "I'm so sorry Cynder, I didn't mean anything by it," Spyro said nervously.

"Don't worry, we were just playing," Cynder said, secretly inside though she wanted it to be real. She loved Spyro ever since he had saved her from the dark master. She noticed though that Spyro only thought of her as a friend and it bugged her.

"I really am sorry," Spyro said again looking embarrassed by what he had just done.

"I said it was alright, you were just playing," Cynder sighed. She thought Spyro apologized to much when something awkward happened between Ember and her. One time he had fallen on top of Ember in an awkward way and said sorry about one-hundred times. "Anyway that was only a five second pin, we do ten," Cynder said tackling him.

"Round two eh, bring it!" Spyro said as he wrestled with Cynder.

"With pleasure," Cynder replied pinning Spyro to the ground. Spyro struggled out of the pin and pinned her in a less awkward position. Unfortunately the pin wasn't very strong and Cynder broke free. "Got ya," Cynder said taking his back legs and pushing them so he toppled over.

"Hey, that's cheating," Spyro laughed. Cynder pinned him down for ten seconds and got off of him.

"See, if you're too careful you'll end up losing," Cynder said smiling. Why was Spyro so uncomfortable around her? She wasn't evil any more and she did everything she could do to make herself appeasing. She bathed every week which was more than most dragons bathed. She brushed her teeth and even put on some perfume time to time and yet, he was always different around her.

"Now I'm thirsty," Spyro said going over to the fountain getting a huge drink. Spyro did feel uncomfortable around Cynder but it was because he didn't want to get romantically involved with her. "It's not like she's going to attack me," Spyro thought lifting his head from the fountain. He just didn't feel comfortable around females, not just Cynder. Even Ember he felt nervous around.

"Well, I am too," Cynder said walking over to the fountain right next to Spyro. Cynder didn't plan on getting a drink but to just get closer to Spyro. She wanted him to be her mate so badly that it almost drove her insane. She scooted so close to him that her body pressed against his. This was too much for Spyro; she was to close for comfort.

"Heh Cynder, it's kind of crammed, can you scoot over a little?" Spyro asked politely.

"Okay," Cynder said solemnly. He did feel uncomfortable around her. What was wrong, did she smell, did she look like trash? She tried to hold back the tears but one managed to slip by.

"What's wrong Cynder?" Spyro asked looking over at the now crying dragoness.

"Why do you always act different around me, you act like I'm still evil," Cynder cried. Spyro was taken aback by this. How would he answer this with out hurting her feelings even more?

"It's not you in particular Cynder, it's just hard for me to talk to girls for some reason," Spyro said looking embarrassed. "I even have trouble talking with Bianca and Elora!" Cynder stopped crying immediately and started laughing. She had been so worried that something had been wrong with that she hadn't realized that Spyro only had girl phobia.

"The mighty Spyro has trouble talking to girls!" Cynder said laughing.

"Heh that's…well I guess it's kind of funny," Spyro giggled. The two dragons sat in the woods laughing and laughing until they got to tired and fell asleep.

"Well the shopping is done, and I even got this nifty camera," Elora said walking out of the store with a bag over her shoulder and a camera in her hands. "I mite as well test it out, I'll go take a picture of everyone," Elora said to herself. She thought where she had last seen Ignitus go with Babylon. "He's taking her on a tour so I bet he took her to the reflecting pools," Elora said running out of town. She shuffled down the hill and stopped when she saw Ignitus. She almost let out a laugh as she saw the dragon elder asleep next to Babylon. "Cozying up to each other I see," Elora said to herself. She got at a good angle and yelled "Cheese!" The camera flashed and Ignitus and Babylon both woke up.

"Who's there," Babylon screamed. Elora ran from the reflecting pools laughing while Ignitus was still halfway asleep.

"Now maybe you'll get me that new shirt I wanted," Elora yelled. Ignitus got up to see Elora running away with a camera.

"Damnit," Ignitus mumbled getting up.

Elora ran in to the middle of town and stopped. "Wait until Spyro sees this," She thought. She ran towards the fountain with haste knowing Ignitus would be looking for her. She entered the woods and soon she found the slumbering dragons in an awkward position on the ground. "Oh my God, this is just too good," She looked through the camera scope until she had a good picture. "Say blackmail!" Elora yelled as the camera flashed.

"Blackmail," Spyro said sleepily. "What!" Spyro shot up off the ground to see Elora running down the path. "Wait, it's not what it looks like," Spyro tried to say but Elora was already gone.

"Flame is going to love this, so is Ember," Elora giggled slyly. She remembered seeing them walk to the meadow. She ran through town barely dodging Ignitus who was bright red. She ran out the south gate and into the fields. "She spied to shapes in the low grass and approached them. "You have to be kidding me," Elora said to herself seeing Ember asleep on Flames chest. Flame wasn't asleep however and was humming something. Elora quickly flashed the camera and ran for her life. She was having so much fun.

"Come back here!" Flame yelled in the distance. Elora was not planning on doing so though, she was planning on how to disperse all the pictures.

"Bianca has that internet page," Elora said out loud running toward the cliff. She had spied out of the corner of her eye Bianca and Hunter running out of the west gate that led to the cliff. She ran around the town so she wouldn't be caught by the others. She was tired by now and her paced had slowed down. She walked up the side of the cliff to spy Bianca and Hunter asleep in each others arms. "What are everyone's pheromones on super high or something," Elora whispered to herself. She took the camera and flashed three quick pictures which woke Bianca.

"Hunter, Hunter, we're being violated!" Bianca yelled in Hunter's ear. Hunter rolled over and opened one eye then went to sleep again.

"That's nice," Hunter said drifting off to dream land. Bianca shook him five times before he woke but by that time Elora was on her way home.

"Now let's see, Spyro can get me the TV, Flame can get me that real nice purse, Hunter can get me the make up, and Ignitus can get the shirt," Elora said to herself with an evil grin on her face. "I could always use a new coat, and while I'm at it, my hotel room needs sprucing up, blackmail is so nice,"


	7. Innocence Shattered

"Are we free yet master?" Spyro said sarcastically looking over at Elora. Elora glared at him as she counted the things that they had done. They had cleaned the bathroom, the bedroom and they had gotten her, a new TV, a new coat, and some cute shirts.

"Unfortunately yes," Elora said as she grabbed all the pictures that were blackmailing the males. "A deal's a deal," She tore up all the pictures and gave them to Spyro who used a flame breath to destroy them completely.

"Elora you really sunk low this time," Ignitus grumbled looking at her with anger. "If I had the right mind I'd…"

"You'd what?" Elora mocked him.

"I'd, I'd, I'd," Ignitus stuttered. Spyro laughed at Ignitus anger and Flame just rolled his eyes.

"Cool it Ignitus, she was just playing around," Hunter said with a smile. "She wouldn't release the pictures would you Elora,"

"Hmmmmmmm, probably not, but don't think that I wouldn't threaten to do it," Elora said laughing.

"So what blackmail did she get you with?" Flame said looking at his friends.

"I'd rather not say," Ignitus grumped as he walked out of the hotel room.

"What was the point of telling you when I just did all this," Spyro said pointing to the spotless hotel room.

"Ummmmmm, do I have to tell," Hunter said twiddling his thumbs. "It's kind of embarrassing,"

"I was kidding, I don't want to know anyway," Flame replied as he walked out of the room. As he did he could feel someone contacting his mind.

"Flame, this is Ember, Marcus and Mat want to make sure Spyro is the keeper, tell him to come to the meeting house pronto," Ember said. "Oh and…are you sure that it is alright to ask Spyro out, because I'm doing it tonight," Flame paused for a moment and then gave his answer.

"Of course it's alright," Flame said holding back his disapproval. He didn't want her to ask him out but he couldn't tell her what to do.

"Alright, but no spying on us okay?" Ember said sternly making sure she got her point across.

"Okay, I promise, my love," Flame said lovey-dovey like.

"Then I'll see you at the meeting," Ember said breaking the contact between their minds.

"Hey guys," Flame yelled as he poked his head through the door. Hunter was hitting Spyro with a pillow and Elora was on the ground laughing. "There is another meeting about the up coming mission that we have to go to,"

"Okay," Spyro said running out of the room leaving Flame, Hunter, and Elora in the dust. 'I'll race you,"

"No fair, you always get head starts," Hunter yelled and ran off.

"My God, do you guys always have to make a competition out of everything?" Elora complained running out of the room with Flame.

"Yep, and the girls always loose,' Flame said running ahead of Elora.

"Oh really," Elora said running after Flame with new found speed. They group raced down all the flights of stairs and out of the lobby. They sprinted down the streets until Hunter tripped up Spyro causing a pile-up. "Hunter, for a cheetah you're a klutz,"

"Spyro tripped me up!" Hunter complained as he moved Flames tail out of his face.

"We're going to be late if we don't hurry," Flame grumbled as he got out of the pile. The group untangled themselves from the pile and entered the meeting house. They were greeted by Babylon who was standing at the doors entrance. She gave them a great big smile and then focused her glance on Spyro. She immediately took her tail and slapped him over the face with it.

"You little dork, you set me up!" She yelled at him angrily.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Spyro said nervously recovering from the blow. She whipped her tail around again but Spyro ducked.

"Don't lie; you knew what the massages were for!" Babylon shouted.

"For comfort and relaxation," Spyro said mockingly. Babylon swung her tail downward and swiped his feet out from under him.

"For young dragons having growing pains you dumb…" Babylon said but cut her self off at the end. "Brat,"

"But you looked so young, I figured you needed it," Spyro joked getting up. Babylon just glared at him and walked into the meeting room.

"Nice," Flame said looking over at Spyro.

"What?" Spyro said innocently. "I honestly didn't know,"

"When will the madness stop?" Elora said burying her hands into her face. When everything got settled Flame and the others took there seats to see Mat and Marcus fiddling with a case with a hospital sign on it.

"Great, everyone's here," Marcus said unlocking the case. "Now let's begin, to insure that Spyro truly is the "keeper", we'll need a DNA sample," Marcus said pulling out a big needle. Flame laughed as he saw Spyro go into shock. One of Spyro's fears were needles, he hated them.

"Not in a million dragon years are you going to touch me with one of those," Spyro said nervously.

"Oh quit whining, just suck it up," Elora said.

"Come on buddy, you can do it," Hunter said smiling.

"Spyro it won't hurt a bit, I promise," Ember said sweetly.

"Alright!" Spyro yelled. "I'll do it," He walked up to where Marcus was and held out his hand. "Just do it and make quick,"

"It won't hurt a bit," Marcus said assuring him. Spyro closed his eyes and felt something touch him, which he thought was Marcus making sure he put the needle in the right spot. "Alright, we're all done," Marcus said patting Spyro on the back.

"What, you did it already?" Spyro said looking shocked. "All I felt was you touching my arm,"

"That was the needle you dork," Elora said half laughing.

"Oh, okay," Spyro said turning red. He made a huge deal out of a little needle. He was embarrassed; he paced back toward his seat next to Ember and sat down with out another word.

"See, I told ya it wouldn't hurt," Ember said smiling.

"Well if he indeed is the "guardian" then he'll have a special chromosome in him that will stand out from the rest," Marcus said typing on his laptop.

"This is much easier then last time," Mat said throwing his hands up in the air. "Last time we had to hold auditions, it took sixteen weeks,"

"Amen to that," Babylon said sarcastically. Marcus's laptop made some sort of buzzing noise and he turned on the projector hocked into his computer. The information was now spread across the wall onto a projector screen.

"Congratulations Spyro, you're not the guardian!" Marcus said burying his hands in to his face. "Time for auditions,"

"God Damn it all to hell," Mat yelled. "Not again," Babylon hit him with one of her claws.

"Show some control," She yelled at him.

"You mean Spyro isn't the guardian!" Bianca said shocked. For once, Spyro wasn't the one who was going to save the world. There was someone else out there who was going to, but who was it?

"Didn't see that coming," Flame said also shocked by the news.

"Well, we'll have a second meeting tomorrow because I still have to prep are equipment, not to mention give the coordinates to the prof guy," Mat complained.

"We can't, time is too short, we'll have to start them now starting with you guys," Marcus said preparing more needles. "Okay, single file line please,"

"Okay teacher, will we have any homework today?" Elora mocked stepping into line.

"Yeah, not to die," Marcus said coolly. "Vice will do anything to get those dark crystals, even kill," This comment made everyone feel uneasy, all the villains that they had versed before never mentioned killing, except for the Dark Master. They might of said get rid of but Spyro didn't connect that to killing.

"You look surprised," Babylon said cocking her head as she always did when she was confused.

"Well see, everyone except for a handful of the foes I versed never would kill as a first resort," Spyro began. "Gnasty Gnorc is too stupid to kill anyone, Ripto is a big softy, Red is probably too old to kill anyone now, and the Sorceress probably wouldn't want to get blood on her cloths!"

"Well then you've faced some pretty wimpy foes," Matt said laughing. "All the ones we've been facing are evil to the last bone of their body,"

"Well all except two," Spyro replied. "The Dark Master and…" He began to say it but stopped. He didn't want to hurt Cynder's feelings so he stopped.

"It's alright Spyro, you can tell," Cynder said looking at him sweetly.

"And Cynder," Spyro finished.

"Heh, doesn't this little girl have the same name?" Matt pointed out bluntly.

"It's just a coincidence right?" Babylon said giving Matt a dirty look.

"No, it's not," Spyro said looking down at the floor. "Cynder was once evil, she was possessed by the Dark Master so it wasn't her choice," Spyro held out a picture of Cynder back when she was possessed, it sent shivers down everyone's back.

"You telling me that this little sweetie over here was that," Matt said astonished. Cynder looked down at the floor by the comment, was she really that bad? She didn't remember any of it; the first thing that she remembered was seeing Spyro standing over her, his handsome body smoking with purple fumes. Right then and there she knew she wanted him as a mate.

"Heh, don't hurt her feelings, she didn't have a choice, she's not bad anymore!" Spyro shouted at Matt.

"Why you so protective of her?" Matt said frowning.

"She's my friend, that's……all," Spyro said but remembered not to hurt her feelings. It was too late though because the comment sent Cynder into tears. "Damn," Spyro thought as she ran out the door.

"Good job Romeo," Elora said rolling her eyes.

"Go, Spyro, apologize to her," Ember said gently.

"Okay," Spyro said as he sulked away out the door. He looked out into the hallway and saw Cynder enter the dragoness's bathroom. "Oh great!" Spyro thought as he threw his head into his claws. "She ran into the girl's bathroom and I don't even know how to apologize to her with out further hurting her feelings," Spyro went over to the door and knocked lightly.

"Go away!" Cynder shouted. She was really having the worst day of her life. She loved Spyro, and now everyone knew. "They probably already knew," Cynder thought. Spyro knocked again but he got the same response. "I said go away!"

"Listen I just want to say I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I didn't know you liked me like that," Spyro said. He lied, he knew she loved him but this was the only way he could apologize with out hurting her feelings.

"Really?" Cynder said in a less gloomy voice.

"…Yeah…," Spyro mumbled. Cynder finally came out from the bathroom and looked at Spyro. She ran to him and hugged him, throwing her head into his chest. Spyro was caught off guard at first but then returned the embrace. "Cynder…I don't like you that way though," Spyro finally said looking down at her. Cynder's heart dropped, she felt something inside her break into tiny pieces. Then it was replaced with something she hadn't felt in a long time. Something that she thought was gone from her for good, hatred. She hated Ember; she was the one who stole Spyro from her.

"It's alright, I understand completely," Cynder said disguising her true feelings. "I'm going to go home and rest okay," Spyro looked at Cynder's face, it didn't look sad or mad, it looked blank.

"O-kay," Spyro said watching her as she paced away. He made his way back into the meeting room just in time to hear the results.

"Okay…Bianca, negative, Ember, negative, Hunter, negative, Ignitus, negative, Flame, POSITIVE!" Marcus said happily.

"What in all the Gods do you mean I'm it!?" Flame said dumbstruck. "How could I be a guardian, I don't even know what they do!"

"Were you paying attention at the first meeting?" Babylon asked.

"I drifted off toward the part about the force field," Flame said shrugging his shoulders. "I figured Spyro would be the only one who had to worry about it,"

"Honestly I fell asleep too," Spyro said taking his seat.

"Is there anyone who didn't fall asleep?" Marcus asked angrily.

"I didn't," Bianca said standing up. "You said something about the guardians opening the force field, then you would blow-up (Split) the meteor,"

"Good, at least someone pays attention," Matt said sarcastically. "I didn't, fell asleep too,"

"I dislike a lot sometimes Matt," Babylon said frustrated.

"How do I open the force field?" Flame said scratching the top of his head.

"Ummmmmm, we don't really know, they just do it," Marcus said.

"Are you sure I'm the guardian, I mean I don't feel like one. How accurate is that machine of yours?" Flame spoke.

"It's only been wrong once, and that's when we lost……," Marcus began but then looked down at the ground.

"Damnit stop dwelling in the past Marcus, we got to move on!" Matt yelled at him. "It won't do any good to bring it up," Marcus stared at Matt angrily; he swung his fist at him and hit him in the lower jaw.

"You didn't care for either one of them," Marcus swore at him. "So shut up!" Babylon stepped in-between them and stopped their fighting.

"Stop acting like kids, I miss Florence and Sophia too but nothing we can do can bring them back, we all cared for each other and they sacrificed their lives for ours," Babylon yelled at them both. "What would they think of us if they saw us fighting?"

"I'm totally lost, who are those people?" Hunter asked startled by the sudden violence.

"It's a long story, to make it short they were members of are team, on one of our missions they sacrificed their lives for ours," Babylon said. "I'll never forget the last thing they said to us, Go on, you think this meteor scares the mighty duo,"

"They were brother and sister, I...I loved Sophia, and Florence was like a brother to me," Marcus said. "But I got careless, and it cost them their lives,"

"Okay, that's all for right now, you guys should soak up the free time today because tomorrow will be prep time for the mission," Babylon said patting Marcus on the back. "If you need us, our ship is parked at the professor's,"

"Okay," Ignitus said dryly and walked out. The only one that wanted the meeting not to be over was Ember. Her feelings were mixed up on whether to ask Spyro out or not.

"I don't want to break Flame's heart again, but then again he said I could, be we kissed and that would be cheating, but Spyro and I also kissed," Ember's thoughts screamed in her head. "Okay," she thought. "I won't ask him but if he asks me then I'll go out with him," She agreed that was a perfect compromise being fair to everyone's feelings. Flame was depressed though. He knew that if Spyro and Ember went out he wouldn't have a chance.

"Well I knew this would happen," Flame thought to himself. "She'll forget all about me and go with Spyro," He noticed though that he wasn't alone, in his mind.

"So is that how you think?" Ember said angrily to him. "Well here's the deal, I'll be fair to everyone's feelings," "If Spyro stays quiet then I won't ask him, if he asks me I'll say yes…fair?"

"I guess," Flame sighed. He remembered what Babylon had said and decided to forget about his love problems for the moment and go enjoy himself. "What to do," he thought silently in his head.

"How about you go do something fun with Hunter, or try to cheer up Cynder," Ember said, still contacting his mind.

"Okay, I'll get Hunter to do something," He said sighing. "Not to be offensive to Cynder but she still creeps me out a little,"

"Hey, that's not nice!" Ember said sternly in his mind. "She has gone through a lot lately, give her a break!" With that Flame felt Ember's presence fade away from his mind.

"Why do I even bother?" Flame said out loud. He couldn't understand how Ember could be so insensitive about his feelings. Then he realized something, if Ember ignored Spyro's feelings she would be insensitive about his feelings. She was just trying to make everyone happy.

"Excuse me, its Flame right," Babylon said slyly stepping up to him.

"Yeah, what's up," Flame said glancing over his shoulder.

"Do you happen to know where Ignitus is?" She asked nicely.

"Ummmm, he would be at the cemetery, but aren't you supposed to be at the ship?" Flame said.

"Marcus said I could go mingle with you guys, I've never been around my own kind you know," Babylon said. "But why would he be at the cemetery?"

"To pay respects to Erika," Flame said.

"What happen to her, he mention her before," Babylon said. Flame though for a moment until answering.

"It's not my place to tell you, ask him if you want to know," Flame said looking at her. There was a long silence before anyone spoke.

"Oh…okay I'll ask him myself," Babylon said walking away hastily. Flame was sure of it now that Babylon had a crush on Ignitus. No one had ever loved him that way since his late mate Erika.

"Fun, right," Flame said turning around. He stopped in his tracks and just sighed. "Who am I kidding, I can't have fun…I might as well go home," Flame thought to himself. He walked in the direction of the ship so he could find out more about what they had talked about during the meeting. If he couldn't have fun he wanted to know more about what they were up against. "I'm tired of all this drama, I need some action," Flame joked to himself. He followed the directions that Babylon had given him just before she left and saw a grey metal mass with jet boosters sticking out the end. It had a huge symbol on it that read I.P.R. He didn't no where to enter so he just banged on the ship. He noticed a hatch open up and Matt pop his head out.

"Huh, oh it's just you, come on in we're not doing anything important," Matt said waving him on in. Before he could press the button to lower the stairs Flame spread out his wings and hovered up to where he was standing. Matt was taken aback by this but he stepped aside and let Flame enter. Instead of seeing Marcus getting ready, he was simply playing with a machine that Flame was not familiar with.

"What's that?" Flame asked poking it with his claw. He saw two buttons and pressed the one with the light on it. The machine opened up and revealed a disk shaped plastic object spinning around on a circle. "Oops, did I do something wrong?"

"Nope, you just opened it up," Matt said closing it. Flame looked over to the screen where Marcus was focusing his attention on. He saw a human on a board with wheels doing various flips and grinds on bars and cars.

"It's a video game," Marcus said pressing a button on the controller and looking up. Flame examined it closely but soon lost interest in it when he remembered why he came over here.

"Hey, can you tell me more about the whole guardian thing, I want to know more about it," Flame said sitting on the floor. Matt looked at Marcus and laughed as did he. Flame was irritated by their laughter, what did he say?

"Sorry Flame, it's just that we don't know anything about the whole guardian thing, nobody but you knows," Marcus said.

"Oh," Flame said sitting up. He began to leave but was stopped by Matt.

"Hey man, don't leave yet, we'll teach you how to play "Ultimate Skater 5"," Matt said leading him to his seat. Flame began to laugh and forget about all the drama and worry about everything going on. All he was concerned about right now was to get the high score.

Babylon made her way up to a hill that contained many graves. She had received directions by a nice young dragon how to get to the cemetery. She spied Ignitus looming over a large grave at the edge of the hill. She approached slow and carefully but she soon found that he already knew she was there.

"Why are you here?" Ignitus asked solemnly.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," Babylon said genteelly.

"Oh……," Ignitus said but trailed off in the middle of his thought. Babylon looked down at the grave and saw the name Erika on it. She looked at Ignitus who seemed to be looking at something else, something in the past.

"So, you really liked Erika," Babylon said softly.

"I loved her, she was my life back then, and we were mates for life," Ignitus mumbled. "Until…she died," Ignitus let out one single tear, one single drop left his eye and slid down his snout and fell to the ground.

"…how" Babylon said looking concerned at him. Ignitus looked at her with a new perspective; he saw not just beauty on the outside, but beauty on the inside.

"Well…I had a best friend by the name of Infernos," Ignitus began. "He had a crush on Erika as did I," "Erika couldn't break any of our hearts so we began to quarrel about her," "Finally as a last ditch attempt to try to win her over, Infernos kidnapped her," "I pursued him until I found him at a Volcano by the name of Vulcan," "As we fought amongst ourselves, Erika…she, she died," "I don't know how she just died," Ignitus cried out in agony. He bawled as he began to remember the events that took place that day.

_Flash Back_

_Ignitus charged at Infernos with his horns raised. Infernos dodged it and shot a deadly ball of ice at him._

_"Give it up Ignitus, I was always the strongest one," Infernos laughed as the ball nearly hit him. It shattered into pieces that projected everywhere. Infernos felt something hit him in the stomach. He looked down to see a shard of ice lodged inside of himself. He fell down almost instantly, and a pool of blood formed around his body. Ignitus was left unharmed, but as he looked over at where Erika was standing she had a small shard of ice stuck inside of her. Ignitus quickly ran over to her and held her in his arms shaking her._

_"Erika, Erika wake up!" He cried as tears fell from his eyes. She opened one eye slowly and began to speak._

_"Good job…you got him but…he got me," Erika slowly said. "I want…you to know that you…you…were," Erika said but began to fade off._

_"Were what?" Ignitus spoke gently into her ear._

_"…a f-a-t-h-e-r," Erika said with her last breath. With that she slowly slipped away in the arms of Ignitus as he screamed and cursed everyone and everything for what happened._

Babylon looked at him as he cried into one of her shoulders. She felt so bad for him, yet she could think of nothing to do but feel overwhelmed by the pain and sadness of somebody she felt close to. She just looked down at him, she just wanted to make him happy, get a smile out of him but it was no use. He cried and cried and cried until he was dry of tears.

Ember was a little surprised about how things had turned out. She had expected to have Spyro come out and confess his love for her instead he had simply asked her if they could go do something together, which she felt was like going out. Ember had picked a favorite spot of hers, the woods. She loved the woods because it was quiet, private, and beautiful. She was simply sitting there admiring the view when she noticed Spyro starring at her. When she glanced over at him he didn't look away but continued to stare. She just giggled and returned it. Spyro just couldn't look away, he was entranced by her.

"You're so beautiful," Spyro blurted out. He immediately got red and looked away. Ember on the other hand moved closer to him.

"Really, how beautiful?" Ember said softly looking at him. Spyro was tongue-tied at first but he soon found that he could comfortable talk to her.

"The most beautiful I've ever seen," Spyro said as he met her gaze once again. Little did they know that the forest wasn't as private as they thought. Among them was a stalker, a jealous heart broken one. Cynder sat behind the bushes watching the two stare at each other.

"No…," She thought as she watched them. She knew they were going to kiss, and everything else that followed. "No…," Anger built inside of her and she lost control of her thoughts and her feelings. She began to have thoughts of destruction and evil, of murder. Her last thought was that she felt something enter her, something that she had felt before but she couldn't remember what it was. She grew three times her regular size, but Ember and Spyro were to busy staring at each other to notice. Cynder started forming an electric sphere in here hands. She put all of her rage and all of her sorrow into and with one last thought of pain she shot the ball at the pair.

"DIE!" she screamed as the ball raced toward the couple. Spyro and Ember looked over in fear as the ball bounded toward them and directly hit Spyro. Ember was hit by the bolts that came off the ball. The two were both sent flying back into a tree. As Cynder regained control of her feelings she looked in fear of what she did.

"No…Noooooooooooooooooooo!" She screamed as she ran away. She ran as fast as she could, away from everyone, away from everything, and away from herself.

"What?" Flame questioned to himself as he was walking in the meadow. He had just left the ship after he began getting tired and was walking home. He had felt someone contact his mind, it was only brief but he had made out two words, "help" and "woods". He could also tell that it was Ember and that she was in distress. With that combination in his mind he raced across the meadow with new found speed. He now saw the trees rise up on the horizon. He entered the forest and began searching the woods for anything that was a clue to what could of happened. His clue was a large gaping whole in a tree. He followed the trail until he found two limp bodies of Ember and Spyro. "Oh my Gods," he shouted as he ran to his friends. They both looked dead, like they had been struck by lightning. He examined Ember more closely to find that her chest was slowly rising and falling. He crawled over to her and shook her. "Ember, Ember!" Flame yelled as he shook her. She opened one eye then the other.

"What are you doing…here?" Ember said coughing.

"You contacted me…what happened?!" Flame said softly to her. She began to fade off a little but she kept talking.

"Cynder…she attacked us…Flame…do you…still love…me?" Ember said gasping for breaths. Flame was puzzled by the question; she had to be out of her mind.

"Of course I do, I always will, for an eternity and forever," Flame said holding her tight up against his chest.

"Good," Ember said and went unconscious.

"Ember no come back, Ember, EMBER!" He yelled into the night shaking his beloved. He called for help and stayed there, shaking her until he realized it did no good, she was gone.


	8. A New Hope

A steady rain fell outside the laboratory. It streamed down the windows like miniature rivers flowing across the land. Flame stared blankly out the window watching the rain fall. He was all alone now; his best friend and his love of his life were in a coma.

"Might as well be dead," Flame said bitterly. There was no way to reverse the effects of coma, so it was like being dead. Hunter peeked through the crack in the door to see Flame staring blankly out the window. Hunter had been depressed too, but Bianca had cheered him up.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to help out around here," Hunter thought as he entered. Flame didn't even acknowledge his presence and continued his eternal stare out the window. "Hey…Flame, how are ya doing?" Hunter said carefully choosing his words so not to upset Flame's feelings.

"How do you think I feel?" Flame said angrily.

"Probably the same as all of us," Hunter said moving closer. Without warning Flame spun around and displayed his glistening white fangs.

"You don't know how I feel, I lost more than just my friends, I lost a piece of my heart," Flame yelled.

"We all have," Hunter said calmly. Flame just grunted and turned around again. Hunter tried to talk to him again but he ignored him. With a sigh, Hunter exited the room and walked down the hallway to a door that read "Stasis Chambers". Hunter entered to see Bianca, Ignitus, the Professor, and the Meteor Fall group staring at a screen. Ember and Spyro were in two separate tanks unconscious.

"Well, as you can see here Ember and Spyro's bodies have been power dived," The Professor said.

"What?" Matt said in a confused voice.

"Basically there bodies have been shut down, but luckily they are still alive," the Professor explained. "How to get them out of the coma is beyond me though,"

"…not again…," Marcus said quietly to himself. This was just like before, the time when they lost half their team. "Not to sound totally heartless…but we have to carry out the plan," Marcus spoke up.

"He's right, if we don't then there will be more suffering," Bianca said shifting. It was a very uncomfortable situation for all of them. Flame was emotionally drained and it would be a miracle if they got him to do anything.

"He's not just going to get up and go when his friends just died," Ignitus said bluntly.

"There not dead!" Bianca shouted angrily. "There's got to be a way to get them back up and running,"

"There i…" Babylon began to say but was cut off by Marcus.

"Shut your mouth!" He yelled at her. Babylon was taken aback but did not respond angrily.

"How else do you think we'll get Flame to willingly open the force field?" Babylon asked. Marcus struggled to respond. His better judgment told him to tell about the crystals but another part of him said no.

"But…still," Marcus said as he looked at the group.

"Well if your not then I'll will," Babylon said snorting in disapproval.

"What are you talking about?" Ignitus said standing up in his seat.

"The crystals, they have incredible healing powers, they have even been said to revive the dead," Babylon said.

"Really?!" Hunter said almost falling over in shock from the news. Everyone in the room stopped and stared in disbelief at Babylon. Marcus just turned his head away and walked out.

"We have to tell Flame!" Bianca said. At that moment Elora came bursting through the doors along with Marcus. Elora had a confused look on her face but Marcus's face was pale white.

"It has started, the meteor has awakened," Marcus shouted. Babylon rushed out the door followed by everyone but Bianca. As they stepped outside the sky was blocked out by menacing black clouds except for a few beams of light that pierced through them.

"We gotta get moving," Matt yelled. "If we don't go soon we'll be cooked,"

"Yeah I'll go get Flame and then we'll move out," Hunter said. "Hey where's Bianca. At that moment Bianca stepped out the door with a broad smile on her face. She seemed not even to notice the sky. "What were you doing?" Hunter asked.

"I told Flame about the new hope we all have now," she said smiling.

"Well, where is he?" Ignitus asked.

"Well I'd say almost about half way to the meteor by now," Bianca said running ahead. "We better try and catch up!"


	9. The Race for the Meteor

Vice looked at the cave with greedy eyes as he searched the horizon for any sign of Marcus and his gang. "Where are those idiots, if they don't come soon we're going to run out of food," Vice spat out bitterly. Tix who was fully aware that their leader's mood was declining tried to cheer him up.

"They'll come soon, just wait a little more," Tix said. Vice glared at him, his eyes drilling into him with anger.

"Well they better, or it'll be your head," Vice said with an evil grin. Tix gulped and slowly walked to his brother.

"Is Vice still bent out of shape about how late Marcus is?" Mix said rolling over. Tix gave him a grin and just shook his head sarcastically.

"No, of coarse not, he's as happy as a butterfly in a buttercup meadow," Tix said putting on a mock face. The two sat down on the cliff watching the horizon carefully for any shapes. Out of their amazement they saw a shape, a large menacing black shadow that charged madly toward them.

"Vice, something approaches," Mix said standing up. Vice ran over to where Mix was standing to see the large shape coming toward them.

"Hide, hurry up, HIDE!" Vice shouted as he ducked behind a rock. The two quickly hid themselves behind a big oak.

With no where to go and no one to go to, Cynder ran aimlessly toward the cavern never stopping. Tears still streaming down her cheeks she ran away from everything to the only one that would accept her. She was tired and half starved but she continued on with her reckless charge. She had noticed though that the sky had turned black and the only light shining was stray heaven beams cutting through the clouds like swords.

"It has begun," the voice inside her head said. "This time you will not fail me," Cynder spotted the trio of bandits up at the cliffs but paid no heed to them.

"Open it up then…master," Cynder said. To the surprise of the on lookers she ran right into the cave, not stopping.

"The hell, she just ran right through it, she must be the guardian, come on hurry," Vice yelled happily as he jumped off the cliff. He landed nimbly and raced toward the entrance. _Smack! _Vice hit the force fieldand fell to the floor in obvious pain. Mix and Tix ran up to their leader and aided him.

"Vive, are you alright?" Mix asked. Vice got up and shook them off him.

"What do you think, I just smacked into a f….," Vice began to say but stopped when he saw what approached out of the cave. The dragon that they saw earlier was about three times bigger and holding a black ball of swirling flames.

"Get rid of them," the voice said into Cynder's head. Her eyes turned blood-red and she turned to her adversaries.

"Gladly," Cynder said launching the ball towards Vice and his crew. Vice dodged by jumping to the side while Tix and Mix scrambled out of the way. Vice pulled out a six-shot pistol with the symbol of a griffon on it. He fired three shots and dived to the side when another fire ball was shot his way.

"Why me, damnit guys help me out!" Vice yelled at them. With out further ado Mix and Tix pulled out long staffs with the symbols of a phoenix and a dragon on them.

"Exurbia," they both shouted at the same time as green shards of diamond began raining down upon Cynder. Cynder hit the ground with one gigantic thud as all of the diamonds hit her. She felt cold for a moment then stood up facing her opponents.

"We don't have time for this, run!" Vice yelled taking a grenade from his pocket and throwing it toward Cynder. She blocked her face as it gave a bright flash. When she regained composer they were gone.

"That will do for now, come" the voice hissed in her head. Cynder walked back inside the cave not noticing Vice, Mix, and Tix standing on the ledge.

"We got lucky this time but next time I doubt that she'll let us just walk away," Vice said wiping sweat away from his head.

"How can you tell that was a she?" Tix asked dumbly. Vice chucked a stone at him which just narrowly missed him.

"Idiot, I don't pay you to ask stupid questions, now set back up," Vice snarled at them.

"But sir, we don't get paid," Tix said throwing up his arms. He ducked again but wasn't so lucky this time as it caught him in the ear.

"I said silence you ignorant fool," Vice yelled at him. The rest of the day not a word was spoken in the group.

Flame ran through a forest that seemed to last forever. He was trying to go to the meteor but he only had an instinct in his gut to tell him where to go. He was so amazed by the news that he couldn't speak. He knew though that words would do him no good, only action would get him to the cave.

"I had to of passed this tree before," Flame thought as he spied a familiar tree. Finally the forest gave way to a clearing that revealed a large machine. "Why the professor put a warp portal here is beyond me," Flame thought as he tried to remember the coordinates. "50, 20, 90 no that's not it ummmmm, 604,608,404 nooooo!" Flame thought as he failed remembering the coordinates. "Oh wait, it was 1002, 404, 700," Flame thought as he put it in. He stood in the bulls-eye and waited for the beam. "Or was 704?" Flame thought at the last minute being sucked up into the portal.

"Come on, at this pace we'll never get there in time," Hunter said angrily as the professor fumbled with the controls of the portal.

"Patience, patience, it is very hard to work this," the professor said pulling out wire.

"I thought you made it?" Matt said looking worried. "Cause I not going on that thing if you don't know how to work it,"

"Please, stop being such a baby," Babylon said elbowing him. "I'm sure he knows how to work this perfectly,"

"Yes I do, now give me the coordinates Marcus," the professor said. Marcus gave him the coordinates, 1002, 404, 704.

"Hey, why were you so hesitant about telling Flame about the crystals being life saving?" Bianca asked. Marcus just stared off like he didn't hear her. "Hey!"

"Okay, we're go in one, two…" the professor began counting.

"I'm too young to ride this ride," Matt shivered.

"THREE!" the professor yelled pressing the button. In a flash they were gone. "Finally some peace and quiet," the professor sighed.

"Ripto sir, we have reports that Spyro's gang is on the move to coordinates 1002, 404, 704, want do you want us to do?" a sturdy Rynoc reported. Ripto glanced over his shoulder and sighed.

"Well what do you think, send every able bodied person over there," Ripto yelled. "This time they won't get away!"

"Yes sir," the Rynoc said and scurried out of Ripto's sight. Ripto knew something was amiss with the skies being blacked out.

"How can I rule the world if there is none," Ripto sighed. "Looks like I might have to help Spyro," He grabbed his staff and amulet and began reciting a spell. "Here I come Spyro, like it or not!" Ripto yelled before vanishing.

All the teams were now racing toward the same destination. This could only result in the greatest battle in history. The sinister voice in Cynder's head began to form into a dark shape. "Come one, come all and fall before the Dark Master!"


	10. The Battle of Twilight Sky Begins

Vice was about to blow up. He had now been sitting at the cavern ledge that over hanged the ledge for 48 hours. Tix and Mix were getting on his nerves and he swore if heard one more complaint about cramps he was going to unload some rounds on their heads. Then he noticed a dark shadow running toward the cave.

"Now what could this be?" Vice said quietly to himself. He now could see that it was a red dragon running full speed at the entrance. "Oh boy, another dragon," Vice said as he pointed to the shape moving closer and closer as time passed.

"Sir! That's the one that information sources say is the guardian," Mix yelled happily. Vice pulled them both down and ducked behind a rock.

"Good, but where's Marcus and the rest of his miserable gang?" Vive said. The group decided that it was now or never so they decided to make their move. The jumped up and attacked the dragon. Today was not their lucky day. As soon as they hit the ground Marcus and the rest of the gang appeared right in front of them.

"Holy Sh…" Vice yelled as the groups collided. In fact, it was no ones lucky day. Ripto happened to teleport himself right on top of the tangle of arms legs and other various body parts.

"What the oof…" Ripto yelled as he was drop kicked in the face accidentally by Babylon's hind leg. While the three groups fought to get up the oncoming dragon ran right past them into the cave.

Flame was tired. As soon as he entered the cave he felt his legs give way and he fell on his face. Regaining his formal composer he began to trout into the darkness of the cave. He tripped and stumbled over himself until he saw a faint purple glow.

"Man, I wish I could light a flame in here but it's so cold," Flame complained to himself. He made his way until he came to a huge opening in the cave. It was all lit up and the walls where covered in lucid colored crystals. Flame had to admit to himself for being incredibly evil, it was beautiful. He then noticed an alter with a cup on it. He walked up to it and peered into it. It was filled with a clear liquid and had various gems on top of it. "To easy, I ran right through the force field, there was no resistance in the cave, and now I'm standing in the center of the meteor," Flame said aloud. It echoed and echoed until it was to faint to hear.

"You have very good observations for such a young dragon," a voice echoed back. Flame looked at the entrance and he saw nothing.

"Where are you, who are you?" Flame shouted back. There was a long silence before he got a reply.

"Look up!" The voice shouted. Flame shot his head upward to gaze upon a giant black dragon with red eyes. It was about five times as big as he was.

"It couldn't…be…Cynder?" Flame stuttered as he gazed into the hypnotizing eyes.

"Well your sort of right, but yes it is Cynder," it replied back. It let go of the top ceiling and glided soared down toward him. Before it smashed into him it shrunk 9 sizes and landed nimbly next to him.

"You looked different…" Flame said still staring at her. She sat down and shook the question off.

"Well that's and odd question," Cynder said and giggled. Flame shook his head and regained his state of mind.

"Why did you do it, you put Spyro and Ember into a comma," Flame yelled at her.

"It was a double-ganger that looks like me, probably one of the ones the dark master made," Cynder lied. Flame seemed to believe her.

"The Dark Masters back, how!?" Flame said surprised. Cynder walked over and sat beside Flame.

"Obviously he's using the meteor somehow," Cynder said pointing at the various crystals. "I bet he plans on using those somehow," Flame was getting less uncomfortable with Cynder so near to him. When he scooted away, she moved closer. Cynder walked in front of him and stared at him, her eyes turning red. "Well now, since Ember is out of the picture maybe me and you could get together?" Cynder said lying down on her side very provocatively.

"But, but…," Flame said but fell into the hypnotic glare of Cynder. He took a step closer to her.

"Don't worry, I'll be here all day," Cynder said. Flame began walking toward her, slowly at first but then more rapid. Cynder made her move when he tried to jump on her, she grabbed him and put his face to her face and whispered in his ear. "Flame, the Dark Master is watching everything we do, act like your kissing me and then I'll pretend to kill you but remember to make it look convincing!" Cynder said. Flame snapped out of her hypnotize and looked at her.

"Whata, what, what!?"

Cynder gave him no time to complain because she locked lips with him and began "passionately" kissing him. After about to minutes she laid down and beckoned to him to come. As soon as Flame slid into her embrace Cynder put her claws across his neck and acted like she snapped his neck. There was a sickening _crack _and then Flame went limp. Cynder got back up and trotted over to the alter.

"You can come out now master, he's quite dead now," Cynder said evilly. A dark form began to rise out of the chalice. It rose up to the ceiling and then began to take form. It was a gigantic dragon, pitch black and had red eyes. Smoke billowed from its nostrils as it awakened fully. It spoke in a deep booming voice that seemed to shake the cavern.

"Very good, now they have no hope of saving this world," It said as it laughed. "Now my young apprentice, what do you want, you have done everything I have asked of you," Cynder walked over to the "dead" body of Flame and kicked it.

"I want a mate, someone who's just as evil as you," Cynder replied. The Dark Master laughed as it heard her request.

"I figured you want something like that, well I can't just make people appear but perhaps…"

"Perhaps what?" Cynder replied looking into his evil eyes.

"Perhaps I can take over Spyro's mind and then turn him evil since he's not dead," Cynder smiled at the thought and laughed.

"Oh and another thing, NOW!" Cynder yelled. In one movement Flame leapt up and charged the alter. Cynder fire a fire ball at the Dark Master and it took him off guard, he fell down and it shook the entire cave. The plan was working, except for the Dark Master disappeared. Flame was still charging when he hit the Dark Master's claw as he was swept against a wall in one motion. Cynder gasped in horror but was soon finding that the Dark Master had turned his attention to her.

"Fools," the Dark Master said. He picked up Cynder and threw her into a wall. With a load crack she hit the wall and rolled limply down. Flame stood up and regained his senses. He looked hopelessly up at the Dark Master who was now laughing. "Did you actually think you could beat me, I mean seriously, you…hahahahahaaa,"

"I don't see what's so funny, there's probably a whole army out there waiting for you to come out if I fail," Flame said dashing over to Cynder. He looked down at her; she was bleeding from a large gash in her upper back. She was unconscious but Flame could tell by her labored breathing that she was still alive.

"An army you say, wow, I have an army too, you want to see it, or better yet…we could watch it destroy your friends," the Dark Master snickered. He made a motion with his claw and then muttered something under hi breath.

"What did you just do, wave your arm?" Flame said looking around in mock surprise at the fact that no army appeared.

"Laugh it up, but why would I need an army in here smart one?" the Dark Master asked smiling evilly for the chaos was defiantly brewing outside. "Let's see if your army can stand up to my army of darkness,"

After the groups had separated themselves, they started shouting and arguing about what they were doing here. "What the hell are you doing here Ripto?" Hunter yelled at him.

"I should ask you the same thing," Ripto yelled. The two then got into a curse fight, in which after one word that Hunter said Bianca slapped him.

"You watch your mouth Hunter!" Bianca warned him shaking her paw at him. "Do you even know what that means?" Hunter thought for a moment and after a hard thought he announced.

"It means to hit a baseball with a bat but not swinging into it all the way," Hunter said trying to look smart. Bianca clapped a hand over her face.

"Never mind," She said turning her attention to Ripto who was side-stepping away. "What _are_ you doing here Ripto, I'm sure it's trying to make are day worse," Ripto was trying to avoid the question, to embarrassed to admit that he wanted to help them.

"Well…errrrrrrrrrr, no I'm here to assist you in rendering the meteor ummmmmm," He struggled with the answer. "I'm here to help you!" He finally blurted out. While this was happing Marcus had gotten into a fist fight with Vice. They were rolling around on the ground hitting each other and shouting at each other.

"You stupid dumb ass, I should kill you right now, it's your fault that Florence and Sophia are dead you bastard!" Marcus screamed hitting Vice in the nose. Vice threw him off of him and pulled his pistol.

"Now that's not what happened, as I remember you were at fault for not abandoning the mission when it was to dangerous," Vice said smirking. Vice felt all the air go out of him as Babylon's tail hit him in the stomach, sending him flying into the air. Matt had a hold of Tix and Mix and was banging their heads together.

"Yeah, you aren't so tough when you can't use your magic are ya," Matt laughed as he banged their heads together again. Tix and Mix miserably hung by their hoods getting banged into each other. Uttering the words of a spell was not enough; they had to think it as well. Vice picked himself off the ground and aimed the pistol at Babylon.

"What is it and dragons, everywhere I go they hinder me," Vice hissed. Before he could fire Echo grabbed the pistol and flew off. Vice cursed and ran after the bat. Echo flew over to Marcus and handed him the gun.

"Well Vice, looks like I have your gun now," Marcus said grinning. "And to your other comment, I'm done feeling sorry for myself; it was the fault of you for lusting for power and wealth, by releasing Syntax." "I'm leaving the past in the past and focusing on the future, the future where the word Meteor Fall will be used to send children off to bed." Vice knew he was in trouble, Tix and Mix could not help him and he was starring down the barrel of his own gun; a gun that could go through titanium. He put his hands in the air, showing he gave up. If he could just reach in his pocket he could pull out a flash bomb.

"Okay, relax…you've won, it's all over," Vice said reaching for his left pocket.

"Your wrong Vice, it's not over till your dead," Marcus yelled firing the gun. Vice ducked and rolled, but not quick enough. The bullet went through his arm and caused a shockwave of pain that shot through his body. His opposite hand reached in his pocket and threw the flash bomb. A bright flash blinded all who glanced over. Vice ran, his arm limp, over to the crags of the mountain and took cover. Tix and Mix, free to use magic, used a magnetic spell to grab the gun. In a flash of light they were gone!

Bianca was laughing and Hunter was left with his mouth wide open. "I thought you were the bad guy, the villain, the antagonist?!" Hunter said using a big word that he heard Bianca say once when referring to Ripto.

"Yeah I'm with Hunter on this," Bianca said surprised by her own words. "Don't you want to take over all the realms?"

"Well there won't be any for me to rule if the whole world goes Ka-Boom!" Ripto said making a demonstration with his hands. "My Rynocs will be here soon so we'll be able to storm the cave." The three "Warlords" started making battle plans. They drew up that what ever was in the cave would take a great amount of force to take down. Ripto glanced over to Marcus's group who was talking amongst themselves.

"Who are they?" Ripto asked pointing his staff at them.

"That's Marcus, Matt, Babylon, and Echo; they came here to destroy the meteor," Bianca said resting on Hunter's shoulder. "They were fighting with Vice and his crew just a minute ago," Then Bianca remembered a vital part of their mission, Flame! Was he in the cave or not? She could only guess.

"Rabbit, I was just getting to the part about the fact that Spyro and his girlfriend are missing," Ripto said impatiently. Hunter looked down, Bianca turned her head away and reality flooded back in.

"They're……dieing," Bianca said solemnly, trying to hold back the flood of tears that was threatening to burst out. Hunter put an arm around her, tying to comfort her. Ripto was silent, after all these years, his nemesis was dieing. Spyro, the foiler of all his evil deeds, the only one that every defeated him, was now on the brink of death. Is this what victory felt like, Ripto just felt a sinking feeling, like he was no longer needed. He had no time to collect his thoughts because at that time his Rynocs crested the hill. At that same time, though, hell flooded out of the cave mouth as the Dark Army cam screaming and yelling out of the cave like a banshee. The battle had begun…


	11. Beginning of the End

_Did I put a disclaimer in this? Well here it isahem I don't own Spyro(Horribly long boring speech about how Spyro and all the characters except Matt, Babylon, Marcus, Florence, Sophia, and Echo, belong to whatever company own their friggin TM's) Okay, here's your story!_

The Dark Army flanked them, smashing into the sides of the Rynoc army causing mass casualties. Ripto ordered all the Rynocs to form up a defensive position around the hill. The Dark Army had already broken through the left side and it was already pretty grim.

"Sigh, I have to do everything myself," Ripto thought. He brought his staff up and smashed into one of the dark creatures that were coming at him. "What a waste of dark matter," Ripto spat out. He waved his staff and summoned an immense ball of fire. It smashed into the ranks of the Dark Army, making them split in two.

"We'll split the army half and half, you get that side, we'll get that side," Hunter yelled over the chaos of the battle. Sword clashed with sword, guns fired wildly hitting their targets with deadly accuracy causing life and limb to be lost. Hunter, Bianca, and Elora took one side of the army while Ripto and Marcus's group took the other.

"Hey Marcus, if this be the end, tell Babylon over there she needs more baths!" Matt laughed as he shot wildly at the enemies with a plasma rifle. Marcus battled wildly to where Babylon was fighting. One swipe of her tail dealt dozens of enemies death at once while her razor sharp claws killed the more persistent ones.

"Matt says you smell and that your hygiene is bad," Marcus grinned at his long-time friend. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ha, ha, ha, you guys are so immature, thinking of things like that," She said flicking one dark creatures off of her. "By the way what are these things?"

"They are composed of pure dark matter; it's such a waste of energy though because they disappear with any major contact," Ripto said while ordering one of his Rynocs to take a dozen or so to help on the other side. The battle was evening out, each side now having the same number of warriors. Hunter ran past a rynoc with a sword sticking out of it, bleeding profusely from the wound in its chest. He gagged at the site, then notching an arrow; he shot it with amazing accuracy as he was rewarded with the scream of a dark creature. Such a grim reward.

"Something is coming out of the cave," a panic stricken rynoc yelled. Large bat-like shadows began screeching out of the cave. They were about the size of Babylon but having gigantic fangs and a bat-like figure. They grabbed rynocs up and soared into the sky, dropping them to their deaths. The battle was now going out of control. Without any defense to these creatures the rynocs scattered all over the place. Ripto eventually got them grouped back up the hill. All available archers were now firing wildly up at the dark forms.

"Well looks like this is it," Elora stated without emotion. "I guess we'll have to count on Flame to get finish the job, wherever he is," The rynoc forces were now down only to what a fraction of what they were. It was looking very grim. A shadow bat made a u-turn in midair and started back at the troops.

"I'm not going out without a fight," Hunter yelled and jumped on to the oncoming shadow bat. It veered left screeching with anger at the action. Hunter got a firm grip on what ever it was and fired an arrow straight into its head. It made a horribly sound and began plummeting down to the ground. With a sickening _thud _it hit the earth. Bianca gasped in horror at what had just happened. She sprinted over to the crater, killing what ever hindered her path with spells. She slid down the hole, running to where Hunter lay.

"Hunter! Talk to me, Hunter!" She yelled. She got no response. She burst into tears, laying her head on his chest. Strangled sobs of sorrow was all that could be heard over the entire battle field. It seemed as if the whole planet had just stopped. Bianca's tears rolled down her face, dripping onto Hunter's lifeless form. Bianca heard a faint distant noise over her cry. She stopped and pressed her ears to his chest. _Thump, thump………thump, thump. _She couldn't believe her ears, and for a moment she didn't. "Hunter?" she managed to say. Hunter heard his name; he began to fade back in to consciousness. He saw Bianca on his chest cryingand put a paw around her.

"Bianca…don't cry, don't cry…," he said staring into her eyes. She didn't believe her eyes now either. She embraced him, hugging him lovingly, pulling him into her.

"Don't you ever do that again, you stupid idiot!" She yelled at him, still hugging him. Hunter's eyes looked around; while Bianca had been distracted the dark creatures had surrounded them. Hunter didn't tell Bianca that all their bows were drawn; all he did was embrace her back.

"I love you," Hunter said nuzzling against her. The dark creatures were now notching arrows, not firing, as if waiting for an order.

"I love you too," Bianca said closing her eyes. _Fire…_

A fiery explosion hit all around the crater, destroying whatever thing stood there. A sea of flying dragons came roaring out of the twilighted sky, raining down onto the earth like a downfall of water droplets. They smashed into the forces, making a gap in-between the sea of black. Ignitus landed nimblely at the top of the crater, smiling down at the young couple.

"Come on you two love birds, Flame needs are help in the cave," Ignitus said pulling the two up and out of the crater. With that they dashed toward the entrance of the cave, sprinting between the split forces of the dark army. Arrows, beams, and splinters flew at them as they dashed madly through the war. Marcus, Matt, Babylon, Echo. Hunter, Bianca, Ignitus, Elora. All as one entered the cave.

The Dark Master frowned; he sensed the battle turning against him. He slammed Flame up against another wall, half in anger and half in pure amusement.

"You really are weak," the Dark Master said laughing coldly. Flame lay on the ground bleeding from a gash in his head

"Flame, Flame, Flame…the dragon living in Spyro's shadow, did you really have the idea you could just barge in here and foil my plans?" the Dark Master chuckled. "I mean look at you, your not as strong as Spyro, not as big, nor do you show any signs of using magic, what did you think was going to happen?" Flame shot up angrily and punched him in his snout. A smile appeared on the Dark Master's face as he regained his composer. "Oh, you'll pay for that you insolent little brat," He picked him up by his neck and flung him into another wall.

"So this was how it would end, getting smashed into walls by your worst enemy," Flame thought. "At least... at least he'll get his ass handed to him by all my other friends when they come crashing through the cave," Flame closed his eyes, so many things he wanted to do. He wanted to have a family, have two kids maybe three. Live with all his friends and get as old and senile as Ignitus. He smiled at the last thought, he had had a good life, and now it must end, but he would give it one final push. He stood up, clutching his bleeding head. A smile appeared on his face. The Dark Master looked at him puzzled; it had obviously caught him off guard.

"You know Flame, I think you should hear something," the Dark Master said, the smile dissolving from his face. "I was once no different from any other dragon, having no special thing about me, I was normal," "I had a family and even a mate-to-be, but this all changed one night," "I was taking a long flight, going off to think things through because it was my courtship tomorrow, when I stumbled upon this very cave," "I entered it and explored around when I found this meteor," "It was stunningly beautiful, it immediately took all my breath away," "I gazed about until an idea popped in my head, the crystals would be a perfect gift for my mate," "So I selected one of them, grabbing it and pulling it off," "Little did I know I had just set off the largest ticking time bomb ever!" "Another thing happened when I grabbed it, I began to feel something I never felt before, power…," "I became consumed in it and here we are today Flame," Flame looked down at the floor, the story, could it really be true? He looked up at the Dark Master confused. "Hahaha…are you feeling sorry for me!? After I kill three of your friends you are feeling pity?!" the Dark Master laughed evilly. Flame frowned; he looked at the Dark Master blankly, not showing any emotions.

"I feel sorry for the dragon you once were, you killed my friends therefore I hate you but I still pity the person you once were," Flame stated. "You may be a heartless bastard but you weren't always," The Dark Master shook his head.

"It doesn't matter Flame what you think, because it's the beginning of the end for you and every last being on this planet," he laughed manically. There was a large crash noise as Flame's friends came crashing through a cave wall. They stood on the opposite side of him, ready to fight. The Dark Master was now worried. He had not planned to face so many at once, even though he had great power he knew that a colony of ants could kill a lizard in shear size of numbers. Flame's smile returned as he got down on all fours.

"You're right for once, it is the beginning of the end…_FOR YOU!!!" _he screamed and charge forward toward the Dark Master, his eyes glowing with knew found power as he charged fearlessly toward the towering black dragon who was the only thing that stood between him, and life…


	12. The Final Hazard

_Sorry for the long wait, well here it is, I hope it's good. I might get another one in real soon so don't fret. Whisper out!_

The Dark Master jarred backward as Flame drove his horns into his stomach. The Dark Master recoiled and threw Flame back in the direction he came. Flame spread his wings using them as a speed breaker and landed on the wall. He gripped it with his large claws and looked at the Dark Master emotionless.

"It's over, you're surrounded," Flame said still on the wall. The Dark Master began laughing insanely.

"It's over, it's over, you know how many time I heard those two words and look, I'm still here!" He laughed. "You see the old phrase good will always prevail, well it's bullshit!" "You see when light exists it always casts a shadow, but when darkness exists it doesn't cast out anything but darkness!" A dark aurora began to encircle the Dark Master and his eyes began to glow blood red. "So even if you do beat me, there will always be darkness in someone's heart or mind," He formed a black ball of swirling energy and flung it across the cave right at Flame with blurring speed and deadly accuracy. It crashed into the stop where Flame was and shook the entire cavern. Flame had nimbly jumped into the air just as it hit and he was now flying straight at the Dark Master. He hit him with a large _thud_ and back flipped into a ready position.

"Feh, you could be right, then again you do seem to have a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth so can we just skip all the evil ranting and get to the part to where I kick your ass," Flame chuckled. The Dark Master shot up and uppercuted Flame in the chin which sent him flying across the room.

"Why you cocky little shit!" He yelled at Flame as he fell limply to the ground twenty yards away.

"Flame!" Hunter yelled and ran towards him. He fell backwards as he smacked into some invisible wall. Bianca ran to his side.

"Hunter, are you okay, what happened?" She said helping him up. Hunter began to pound on what seemed like an invisible barrier.

"He blocked us out, damn, there is no way we can help Flame now," Hunter cursed as he looked over at Flame's motionless figure. The Dark Master smiled evilly at them.

"Oh now I know we're all in a hurry to go destroy me, why don't we just sit back and enjoy the show I'm about to give you," he snickered. He used his PSI abilities and lifted Flames body up and slammed it into a wall. The group watched hopelessly as Flame was repeatedly smacked up against walls. The Dark Master was now smiling as he saw the grunts and gasps from Flame. He picked him up one last time and threw him up. He hit the ceiling of the cave and came twirling down. He hit the floor of the cave with a muffled crash. He lay motionless and unbreathing. "Well I think it's time for my evilly laugh again," the Dark Master laughed. "Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Flame fought the darkness off as he fell through an everlasting black hole in his mind. He saw all his friends; they were all staring at him with grief stricken faces. He noticed Ember with a black veil over her snout. She was crying into the shoulder of none other than the hero of the lands, Spyro. They all began to slowly slug away from him.

"No…," he said as he reached out toward them. "Don't leave me!" The Dark Master appeared in front of him and began to laugh at him. He tried to grab him but all he felt was nothingness. He screamed as he fell into what he thought was an ever lasting hell. Then he heard a soft musical voice. It flowed through his entire body and he felt all the warmth return. He could tell it was a female, one with very smooth scales that shone a light-pink.

"Wake up Flame…wake up…" it said. His world blew up into a blinding light and he felt new found strength. He felt his numbness fade away and then he saw Ember. They were in a meadow and the sun was shining, sending rays of light cascading over the blossom covered field. She stepped forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Flame, you can do anything you believe you can, just believe…and it will happen!" She said starring into him. Flame cupped her hand in his.

"No matter what happens Ember, I will win and return to you," he said confidently. "I _will _make you better!" She stepped away and winked at him. The image faded and Flame once again found himself lying on the cave floor. He stood up and starred at the Dark Master who had turned away from him. When he spoke his voice was like two dragons, as if Ember was speaking too.

"You think you have won, your more ignorant than I thought," he said. His whole body began to glow. The Dark Master jerked around to see his emissary standing right behind him.

"You…," he stuttered. Flame spoke no words he just charged forward at him. They locked claws and began trying to over power each other. The dark aurora began to encircle the Dark Master again as he roared in rage. Flame came face to face with his opponent and starred into him. He opened his mouth to reveal a large ball off blue flames in his mouth.

"**Die**!" he screamed as the ball smashed into the face of the black dragon. He sent him flying into the cavern wall where he disappeared into smoke. Flame starred at the indent in the wall, where was the Dark Master? All his friends were behind him cheering. Hunter once again tried to walk forward but the barrier was still present. The altar began to glow and the whole cavern started to shake.

"Flame, be careful, I don't think it's-Gah!" Marcus shouted but was cut off when the altar imploded sucking the meteor into it. In that split second the meteor along with Flame, where gone…

Flame gazed at his surroundings; he was starring back at his own planet. He was in space! He looked at where he stood, he was on nothingness, he was merely flouting in the vast vacuum of space. He turned to see what he most dreaded, the meteor. It was suspended over him, just waiting to fall into the planet. As Flame looked closer he could see something coming out of the meteor. He gagged, it was the Dark Master. He was genetically infused to the meteor and was now laughing insanely.

"Ha, you see Flame, you might of beaten me, but I still had my ace card," he laughed. "Now watch Flame as your entire planet is, **Destroyed**!" Four long black tentacles shout out of the meteor and the meteor began to move forward.

"Damnit!" he yelled as one of the tentacles swatted him down ward. "Spyro got fucking extra lives so why not me?" He began to plummet down towards his planet.

"Believe…"

He opened his eyes and felt his soul start to burn with emotion.

"Believe…"

Was it anger, love, sadness?

"Believe…"

He spread his wings and stopped the descent to his planet.

"Believe…"

He looked towards the final obstacle in his way.

"Believe…"

He let his emotions take hold of him and he launched himself forward.

"Believe…"

He was now a heart beat away from the Dark Master.

"Believe…"

**"Ember, I Believe!"**


	13. Shattered

_Whisper here to tell you that there will be three more chapters! Almost there, so to all my fans I bid you a warning, for you might hate me when this stories over. Enjoy this action packed chapter. Don't you remember a final boss, they don't friggin end, they have like six froms!_

He grappled arms with the dark entity and pushed against it with all his might. One of the tentacles slapped him away, pushing him back. He looked up at the unspeakable evil that now was speeding towards him at an ungodly rate of speed.

"How am I even supposed to touch this thing?" he thought loosing hope. Marcus came to him in his mind and began nagging at him.

"Remember, the only way to safely destroy the meteor is to split it in half, splitting it deactivates the fusion core the lies inside it!" he nagged. "Destroying it any other way would cause a giant explosion; I mean I'm talking about a mini supernova!" Flame smirked; he would need to somehow get enough velocity to cut through the meteor, splitting it in half. He spun out of the way as another tentacle tried to swat him down.

"This sucks, Spyro never had to do anything this badass," he complained as another tentacle shot at him. He again rolled to the side and flapped his wings, hurling himself forward toward the meteor. He rolled by tucking his wings in and dodged another tentacle. The forth tentacle swung at him but he darted under it and proceeded toward the meteor. The Dark Master opened his mouth and shot out a huge black fireball. Flame caught it with both hands and flung it back at the unprepared Dark Master. He screeched as the mass of burning hot flames hit him. All four tentacles shielded him as he shook off the blow.

"Is that the best you can do," he yelled challenging Flame. The tentacles opened up revealing a dozen or so mini-sized fireballs that were hurtling towards him. He managed to dodge all but one which hit him in the belly. It knocked the wind out of him but he regained his senses and dodged another tentacle. He again began pounding his wings sending towards the Dark Master.

"Ha, you ain't seen nothing yet," Flame yelled and shot a large swirling red fire beam at him. It hit him head on and Flame was rewarded with his piercing cries of pain. This pushed the meteor back, and because of inertia it continued to do so. All four tentacles veiled the Dark Master and the meteor began to rotate.

"**Take this**!" he screeched and all the tentacles flung open to reveal a dark lightning bolt bean that continuously shot at him. He flew to the side and fled from the beam as it closed the distance from him. Just as he thought he was a goner it stopped. He was relived but he had let his guard down, and he wasn't going to go with out punishment. One of the tentacles wrapped around him and started pulling him in. As much as he struggled he couldn't get away. It brought him face to face with the Dark Master. He began to form a fireball in his mouth and spit the mass out on his hand. It was a dark orb with flames lapping out of it. "**Now die**!" he screamed and smashed it into Flame sending him flying backwards toward his planet. Flame caught himself by opening his wings and using it as a speed breaker. He panted as he tried to regain his energy.

"Just…a little…more," he panted holding his sides. He looked at how close the meteor was to his home planet, he himself was just above the atmosphere. He hung his head and looked down at his feet, he had failed.

Back on the planet

"Come on Flame, you can do it!" Bianca said looking up at the twilighted sky hoping that somewhere Flame was winning. She stood overlooking the carnage of the battle that had just ended. The ground was covered with black pools of dark energy, which was now being collected by Ripto.

"Hey, if the worlds gonna end then I might as well go out in style!" he said sarcastically. Bianca scolded him with her paw.

"Now you just shut up ya big grump, Flame's out there somewhere beating the snot out of the Dark Master," she yelled at him. Ripto shook his head.

"I can sense energy, and right now I'm overwhelmed with two sources of power, it is hard to tell who will win," Ripto said shutting his eyes. "I can tell they're very far away, probably from space," Elora gasped as she heard what Ripto said.

"You mean they're actually fighting in outer space!?" she exclaimed. Ripto sighed and put his hands on his temples, massaging them.

"Although I can't put an exact pinpoint on their location, it is defiantly coming from beyond the plants atmosphere," he stated. Elora looked at him quixotically, cocking her head.

"You know, you're not a very good bad guy, are you?" Elora laughed. "Helping the good guys," Ripto turned a bright red and sighed.

"You know you're right, I suck at being bad, I mean come on, look at this guy, trying to destroy the whole freaking world, I could never do that," he sighed sinking down gloomily. Elora went over and patted him on the back.

"Oh now stop, I'm sure after this is over you'll find out a hundred more ways to make our lives more miserable," she cooed. Ripto looked up at her and smiled.

"You really think so, because you know I was making this freeze-ray that could make ice-cubes out of you guys," he laughed. Hunter chuckled.

"You know you're not supposed to tell us your evil schemes," he laughed. They all started to laugh until a gigantic lighting bolt struck nearby. It made the earth quake and shudder as it started numerous fires. Ignitus flew over to them immediately after it hit.

"Guys, it's not time to relax yet, we did our part but Flame has to do his yet," he said looking up at the sky. "I just wish there was a way that we could help him,"

"There is…," A voiced suddenly said out of nowhere. Everyone turned around and looked to see nothing.

"Who's there?" Hunter shouted reaching for his bow.

"Do not be alarmed, for I am not your enemy," It said. "I'm here to help; you do wish to help your friend?"

"Yes, but how," Bianca asked. The wind blew hard ruffling her hair as she felt someone's arms wrapping around her.

"Just give him encouragement, cheer him on, and I'll do the rest," it said soothingly. They all looked at each other as if deciding what to do. They all nodded in agreement and closed their eyes.

Back in Space

Flame starred at the impending doom that now was a mile away from the planet, and closing. Tears started to form in his eyes as he looked down at the planet.

"I've…I've failed…," He cried.

"Flame, you can do it," Flame was startled as he looked up to see Hunter standing in front of him with a homely smile on his face.

"We're all counting on you Flame," Ripto appeared aside Hunter with his arms crossed and a wide grin on his face.

"You can do it," Elora appeared aside Ripto and winked at him.

"Give I'm an ass kicking," Marcus and Matt appeared with their fists in the air and big smile on their face.

"Flame...it's all up to you," Babylon whispered appearing by Marcus and Matt. Flame whipped away the tears in his eyes and looked at them.

"Just do it Flame," Bianca said giving him the thumbs up and appearing next to Hunter.

"Flame, I'll save you the long and boring elder's speech, just go out there and give him trouble," he shouted appearing behind them all.

"You really think I can do it?" Flame said looking at all their smiling faces. They all shouted back their answer simultaneously.

"**We all believe in you**!" Flame looked up at his friends with hope in his eyes. He began to rise up from his slouched state and smile.

"Thanks guys, oh by the way, can you get up here with a ship, I'll need picked up after I'm done," he beamed. Marcus gave him the thumbs up and they all started to disappear. They faded back into the emptiness of space and Flame flew forward.

"So…looks like I didn't finish you off, it's to late, you've failed," The Dark Master boomed. Flame began to pick up massive amounts of speed and he started to glow a fiery orange. He looked straight up at the Dark Master putting fear into his eyes as his burning stare scorched his very soul.

"You're wrong…," He spoke grappling arms with him once again. "It's never to late to make what's wrong right, even though you have much more power than I could ever have, I have something you don't,"

"What?" the Dark Master asked perplexed. Flame smiled and his eyes turned a bright gold.

"**Something to fight for**!" he bellowed and let loose a massive bean of golden flame. It shot right through the Dark Master making him scream out in agony. It continued to go through the meteor until it struck the core, making a muffled explosion. The meteor began to cave in on itself as the core collapsed. The Dark Master shrieked as he felt his life fading from him.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" he screamed as he grasped his chest. Flame floated over the meteor as it began to collapse on itself. He let loose one tear that streamed down his cheek and off into space, floating into the everlasting depths of its emptiness.

"It's over…," he whispered as he looked down back at his planet. Marcus's ship exited the atmosphere to catch site of the victory. The Dark Master began to breathe more heavily, his breaths becoming more ragged.

"Flame…do not be fooled by…by the darkness…for it isn't what you should fear," he gasped reaching out toward Flame.

"What…are you talking about?"

Back on the Ship

Everyone cheered and jumped for joy as they witnessed the spectacle before them. Elora picked up Ripto and gave him a huge kiss on the lips making him blush a deep red. Bianca leapt into Hunter's arms and he carried her bridle style around all the commotion. Ignitus offered Babylon a high five but he instead got a kiss on the cheek which made him fall over. Marcus and Matt did their special team clap while Echo flew up above them all making happy screeching noises. Bianca got down from Hunter and gazed out the window at Flame was starring back at the meteor.

"You know what, the more I think about it the more I believe that voice was Ember," she smiled happily. Tears of joy started to flood down her cheek. "She guided us here somehow…," Everyone stopped cheering. They all looked solemnly at the floor now.

"We won, but at what cost?" Hunter said burning a hole in the floor with his eyes. "Spyro…Ember…Cynder, they're all probably never coming back," The monitor on the screen started flashing and beeping wildly as various sirens went off on the ship. Everyone snapped out of their daze and Marcus ran over to the screen.

"This is weird…something is coming at us from space," Marcus said looking at the screen. "And…Oh my God, it's going to hit the meteor!"

Back in Space

"Flame, darkness may be bad but it's not what you should fear," he choked, slowly dieing from the hit Flame had given him.

"So what should I fear…," Flame said, unsure of what was happening. The Dark Master coughed and hacked but began to speak in shallow breaths.

'Flame…the true evil…is…Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" he screamed as a beam of white hit the meteor at lightning speed. It began to shine and glow with a blinding intensity as the beam began to form over the meteor.

"What in Gods name is that?!" Flame shouted as the meteor began to take a totally alternate form. The light burst from the meteor revealing its true form. Large jagged spike pillars rose from its surface as well as giant lucid crystals. The large gapping holes that wants were in it where now filled in, it was like nothing had happened at all.

"Flame, the meteor is set for a crash course for the planet, if it makes contact with the planet now it will crack it in half!" Marcus yelled using the ships speaker. "You didn't split it all the way, what you'll have to do now is blow it up from the inside with these explosives," The docking bay door to the space craft opened and a small metal box floated toward Flame. He quickly grabbed it and listened for more instructions. "You press the green button to activate it and then you have about thirty seconds to get the hell out of there!"

"How do I get inside?!" Flame questioned. Marcus seemed to laugh into the microphone.

"Leave that little detail to me," he said confidently. "Just fly towards the meteor and I'll make sure you get inside," Flame nodded and glanced toward the monstrosity that was heading his way.

"Here I go," he mumbled as he took off toward the meteor. Marcus clicked on the hologram pad and looked towards the ever closer meteor.

"Pulse Beam at one hundred percent, lock on target, ready cooling systems, beam countdown in five, four, three, two, one, **FIRE**!" He screamed as a large beam came out of the ships cannons speeding through space at well over the speed of light. They slammed into the meteor causing a small hole to appear. Flame rushed toward the hole, flapping with all might. The vacuum of space was doing its best to stop him but he pushed forward. The hole started to close, as though the meteor was now made out of some sort of liquid. Flame sped into the meteor in the nick of time, his wing tips brushing the closing walls. He landed inside to look up upon a horrible mutated dragon. It had no membrane in its wings and instead of the proud majestic eyes of a dragon it had pipes coming out of its eye sockets. Its scales where white and it was suspended by hundreds of red tissues in the center of the meteor. Flame was surprised to find that except for this "thing", the meteor was empty, hollow. It made a blood curdling cry at the site of Flame and began to form a crystal around it. It shot them all at once everywhere, making Flame spin at a crazy angle to dodge them.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Flame thought. All at once Flame felt himself being picked up and slowly spun around the dragon. "What…it can control gravity?" The speed became more intense and Flame felt himself loosing consciousness because of all the G's being put on him. The force stopped and Flame shook himself to try to shake off the dizziness.

"Flame…run!" it said. "You…must not fall…victim to this…thing," Flame looked puzzled as the dragon now was shaking and holding its head.

"Are you…the Dark Master," Flame asked. It screeched at and roared as two forces fought for control of the body.

"Flame…I thought the power of the meteor was darkness but…it is not," it breathed, shivering all over. "It was a veiled power, that I could only sense when it was being destroyed, Flame…this power…it's nothingness," "I'll hold this body still but you must be quick, set the bomb and hurry out of here," Flame nodded. He set the bomb on the dragon's breast plate and pressed the button. It beeped in acknowledgement and started to count down. Flame looked at the Dark Master one last time before darting out of the meteor. He felt something reach out and grab his foot. He turned to see that it was the Dark Master, or at least his mutated body.

"Damn it, let go of me," Flame yelled as he kicked and bit at the tentacle but it kept its grip. Flame looked helplessly at the bomb that now read fifteen seconds. He conjured up all of his might, all of his reserves and shot a fire beam at the tentacle. It designated and Flame flew out of the meteor.

"Thank you…Flame," the Dark Master whispered. "You saved us all," The bomb exploded sending pieces of the meteor everywhere. The lucid crystals flew through space as well as massive debris from the meteor. Flame felt darkness falling over him as the shock wave from the explosion knocked him senseless. He watched as his whole world shattered, he grabbed at the emptiness and caught something with his left claw. He tucked it in to himself as he fell into an everlasting darkness. Flame fell through the emptyness of space as the spectaters down on his planet watched a beautiful explosion. Flame had won the battle, but he would soon learn, that to win the war, he would have to pay a very high price!


	14. The Tragic Hero

_Okay so sue me, you'l, prbably want to kill me after this chapter so please, use humane weapons!_

"Flame…Flame…Flame…it's time to wake up,"

Flame slowly peeked out of his left eyelid at his surroundings. Bianca stood looking down at him chanting some spell. He could feel a hard metal floor beneath him and he figured he must be in the ship. He opened both of his eyes and tried to get up but felt the strength in his arms fade and he immediately fell back down.

"Oh my God, Flame you're awake," Bianca said, practically tackling him with a hug. Elora followed suit as they both squeezed the life out of Flame.

"Ugh…thanks," Flame coughed as they all got off of him. Hunter lent him a hand and he got up onto all fours and slowly limped over to a seat near a window. "What happened?" Marcus walked over to him and handed him a small shard of a glowing black crystal.

"Well for starters you won," He laughed clapping him on the back lightly. "You also managed to grab one of the Lucid Crystals, you can restore Spyro and Ember to their regular selves now, it's beyond a miracle!" Flame felt something in him fade away, it was his sadness, his fear, his hate, all of those emotions slipped out through him and floated away. Something in him just told him that everything would be okay. All of his friends were overjoyed with his success and were jumping all around the ship; even Ripto was running around the ship.

"Okay guys, let's go home," Flame said pointing at the planet. Everyone cheered and the shipped turned down towards the planet and entered the atmosphere.

"Flame, even though you're not the chosen, it just goes to show you anyone can be a hero," Ignitus said strolling over to him. Flame smiled at his comment and reflected on the current events that had just happened.

"I think that everyone has some good in them, darkness and light aside, everyone has something in them that tells them what is right and what is wrong," Flame said closing his eyes. "The Dark Master used to be a normal dragon, but he was corrupted not by darkness, but by another power, nothingness," Ignitus looked in confusion at the young dragon. "I think I see the cycle, light and dark are always warring, and nothingness sits back on the sidelines waiting for one side to get weak or careless, then it attacks that side hoping to destroy it," "With one side destroyed the other side will eventually fade back into nothingness because the two side have to have each other to exist," "I guess nothingness is the true evil, darkness is really just the absence of light, what's so bad about that, to much light is bad too," "But to have nothing is the worst of all, because there can be no love, happiness, or anything else," Ignitus took a long hard look at Flame and smiled.

"Truly Flame you are advanced beyond your years in wisdom, no person your age would have ever come out of this with one of the great truths about life," Ignitus smiled. "Nothing is truly good or evil until it is used for a purpose," "But since nothing has no purpose it can only be used to corrupt," Flame felt the whole ship shake and felt the speed of the ship rapidly decrease.

"We're finally home," Flame said looking out the window. Outside the skies were clearing revealing a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds lazily rolling across the sky. They field was covered by dragons who were all cheering that Flame had been successful. Dragons of all colors and species from all the realms stood welcoming their new hero. They chanted his name over and over as the group got out of the ship.

"Flame, Flame, Flame, Flame, Flame!" The shouted as he appeared limping slowly out of the ship. Babylon motioned Flame over and helped him with his walking.

"I suggest you get your wounds healed before you do anything else," She said worried.

"All I need to do is see my friends," he said speeding up his limp. Babylon tripped him and he fell down to the gray ground.

"Well if you going to be stupid then at least be smart about it, use the portal!" She scolded him. Flame glanced up to see a large portal about three yards away. Ignitus walked by and laughed at her remark.

"How can you be stupid while being smart?" He asked over the roar of the crowd. She stomped her foot in anger.

"You just can, okay?" She said frustrated. Ignitus just smiled and stole a kiss from her.

"Whatever you say," he yelled running off into the portal. Babylon felt where he had kissed her and she smiled, but then realizing that everyone was watching her she quickly chased after him.

"Come back here you perverted old dragon!" She screamed. Everyone laughed and entered the portal to the professor's lab.

Flame silently watched as the professor carefully drained Spyro's and Ember's stasis chambers. He removed them from them and laid their motionless bodies on two medical beds. He placed the crystal in a slot and pressed multiple buttons. A flashing icon came up on the screen and the professor sighed.

"It seems like this piece is to small to revive both of them, it will only revive one and one half of a dragon," The group gasped and Flame looked in disbelief at the professor. "I know this seems like a cruel thing to say but it looks like you'll have to choose one of them," The professor said solemnly. Flame's thoughts raced through his mind. This can't be happening, this was the part where there was supposed to be a happy ending, no more deaths, no more hardship, just happy, happy, happy until the day you die.

"No…," Flame mumbled. Hunter recoiled in defense at what the professor had said.

"You can't just say that, how could we choose one of our friends and just say oh well to the other, there has to be another way!" Hunter yelled.

"I'm sorry but I think he's right, if the Lucid Crystal doesn't have enough power to fill up the object of choice then it will start sapping the energy from the nearest object, most likely killing it," Marcus said burying his hands in his face.

"No…," Flame mumbled again. Bianca was trying to think up an alternate solution to the problem.

"What if I power it with a spell, then it would just suck power from it," She said. The idea was rejected.

"Which would suck power from the spell and in turn suck power from you," The professor pointed out. Everyone was squabbling over what to do and Flame had one last thought before he made the most desperate move he had ever made, he wanted **both** of his friends back!

"**No**!" he screamed as he yanked the crystal out of the machine. All eyes were on him as he rushed over to Spyro and Ember who looked like they were peacefully sleeping. He placed one hand on Ember and the other on Spyro and prayed that it would work. There was a bright flash that blinded the entire room. When it faded the dark color of the crystal had faded and it was clear now. Flame looked at the still motionless bodies of Ember and Spyro.

"Did it work?" Hunter said looking over at Flame. Ember's eyes slowly started to open as she got up and rubbed her head. Spyro yawned and rolled off the bed onto the floor. Ember saw Flame standing next to her bed side, tears streaming down his face. She wondered what was wrong and ran over to him.

"Flame, what's wrong?" She asked hugging him. Flame looked into her smiling face and felt that he had truly completed his mission. He had not only saved the world, but he had saved his all time hero and best friend Spyro, and the love of his life Ember. He knew that everything from then on would be happiness, just a timeline of complete happiness…and then he collapsed on the floor.

"Flame!?" Everyone shouted as they ran to his side. He starred up meekly at Ember who was now holding him in her arms.

"Ugh, looks like…mister smarty pants over there was right," He coughed. "At least I got to do everything on my list of life," Ember looked in horror at what he was saying.

"You're…you're dieing, but how?" She cried burying her face into his chest. He patted her on the head.

"To make it short, I saved the world from the Dark Master, came back home, and revived you and Spyro with the crystal, which sucked the life out of me and into you, and here we are," He laughed. "Let's see here, saved Spyro instead of him saving me, check," Spyro smiled at his friend's remark and gave him a high five. "Confused Ignitus instead of him confusing me, check," Ignitus wiped a forming tear off of his cheek before it could run down his snout and smiled. "Saved the world, check, oh one last thing I didn't do," Flame sighed.

"What?" Ember asked looking into his eyes.

"Win your love," he whispered into her ear. She smiled and looked down at Flame with the same eyes she had when they were in the fields way back when.

"Check," she whispered back and brought her snout to his and kissed. It ended quickly and Flame looked up into her eyes for the last time before everything went black.

"I…love…you…to," He said and closed his eyes. Ember screamed in pain as she laid her head on his chest to listen for the one thing she vowed to protect. There was no sound, no beat, no nothing. With that, Ember hopelessly wept on his chest, cursing the Gods that had brought them together only to rip them apart again. Haven't they heard of a happy ending, I guess not…


	15. The End of the Beginning

The planet was silent; all that could be heard were the various town bells ringing out in agony. The skies were empty of any birds, nothing was to be seen. No one spoke a word, made a noise; they just starred blankly into space as the funeral procession took place over by the Lake of Glory. Flame's casket was adorned with many ribbons and flowers as it was carried by Hunter, Spyro, Marcus, and Matt. Elora, Bianca, and Ember stood weeping, except for Ember. She was beyond all sadness; she was lost in her own thoughts that trailed on through her mind like a never ending road. The whole world was practically at the funeral, though only those who knew Flame best were seated up front. Babylon had her head buried in Ignitus's shoulder while the pastor read out some last words. They set the casket down on a slid which held it over the lake by a wedge.

"May time be kind on you Flame as you were kind to us for saving us from a most horrible fate," the pastor began. "For those who knew Flame as a hero, he was much more than that," "He was a kind soul, a friend to all, and a very smart cookie," "Let us all rise and say our last farewell to our hero and friend as he makes his journey up to the stars," The wedge was pulled and the casket slid into the lake. Ember watched as it gently floated down into the depths of the lake. Ember watched it fade out of site and she closed her eyes when she couldn't see it.

"Why?" she thought. She got up and ran down the isle. No one stopped her as she faded out of site. Bianca hugged Hunter as he tried to comfort her. He too, was crying. Elora hopelessly tried to hide her feelings but she burst out into tears. Marcus and Matt looked down at the ground, another mission complete, another causality report. None of their missions had gone without one; they were use to seeing this sort of thing happening but it didn't make it easier. The Professor looked up at the sky and shed a tear for Flame as he was lost for thought.

"Stupid dragon, but so very honorable, so brave, so young," He cried. He wondered why this had happened. Life was cruel, merciless, unforgivable, but it held other things as well. Ripto stood on a house top, out looking the crying and sobbing of his "enemies".

"Is this what evil does, what have I been doing all this time, this?!" He whispered. "Was this my goal, my dream, if it was then why am I…crying?" Ripto shrouded himself in his cloak and walked of into the still, humid day. Everyone forgot about Ember, they all were so wrapped up in their emotions that she faded in their thoughts.

Ember walked silently through the dieing meadow. For reason only known to her the once beautiful blossom covered field was now a barren dirt patch with wrinkly dried stems. She walked up the hill that Flame had sung so many beautiful songs secretly for everyone. She looked at the pathetic field, the blank sky. She listened to the vast silence that hung in the air like fog. She felt the stillness in the air as no wind was blowing. The watched the mass effect of Flame's death had caused on the world. Tears began to stream down her face as she knelt down and cursed at the heavens.

"You god damn bastards, you took him away from me!" She screamed in agony. "You heartless ass holes!" She sobbed and cried until her eyes stung from the salty tears and she stopped. "Why?" She muttered. "It shouldn't end like this," She fell apart and cried herself to sleep, a horrible nightmare ridden sleep. She awoke to find that it was night. The stars were clearly visible, scattered across the sky shining with brilliance. She looked up to them with hope and she began to hear a voice.

"Now now, don't fret my love, I'm always here, I'm always with you," It said. Ember looked up to see Flame standing at the top of the hill. She walked by his side and sat down; they were both gazing at the amazing night before them.

"Why did it have to end like this Flame, why couldn't we be happy," She asked looking into his eyes. He smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"I'll be happy if you're happy, and you still have your whole life ahead of you," He spoke. "Now go be happy," She gave him a hug, surprising herself by actually touching him.

"Okay," She sobbed. Flame patted her head and broke the hug.

"I have to go now but don't worry, I'll always be watching you," He said. A breeze blew by and he was swept away like dust.

"Flame wait!" She cried but it was to late, he was already gone. Another breeze blew under her chin, making her shiver with pleasure.

"I'll always be here, Ember," He said, as if looking down on her. She smiled and to her bewilderment had some sung stuck in her head. She pondered it because it was new to her. Then she remembered Flame coming to her, and figured he had something to do with it.

"Well the only way to get a song stuck out of your head is to…sing it," She said and began to hum it, then sing it out all together.

_Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
Wake me up when September ends _

Like Flame has come to pass  
Forever has gone so fast  
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again  
falling from the stars  
Drenched in my pain again  
becoming who we are

As my memory rests  
but never forgets what I lost  
Wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
Wake me up when September ends

Ring out the bells again  
Like we did when spring began  
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again  
falling from the stars  
Drenched in my pain again  
becoming who we are 

"When I first met Flame I thought he was weak, useless in comparison to Spyro. But now that I see what he has done I now realize that he was much more than any of us could be. He was a hero, a friend, and my lover. I know that Flame is truly a hero among heroes. Flame…,"

_As my memory rests  
but never forgets what I lost  
Wake me up when September ends _

Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
Wake me up when September ends

Like Flame has come to pass  
An eternity has gone so fast  
Wake me up when September ends  
Wake me up when September ends  
Wake me up when September ends 

It then began to rain, but there was not a cloud in the sky! Someone with the right eye might say, Ember's love song made the heavens cry. And now when everything is played out, the story unfolded. We begin to see why the world was scolded. Why must there be war if there can be peace, to this there is no answer. But you must take the good with the bad, the light with the dark, the day with the night. Because with these things told, even the boldest might…fold. Remember the happy ending might be harder to find then you had hoped, but there is always one to be found.

"Good-bye Flame,"

_Lol, I don't own Greenday...just a disclaimer! One more chapie after this one so stick around folks!_


	16. Epilogue

_This is the last one but don't fret, there shall be a sequel!_

The weeks turned into months, and summer turned into fall. Orange and brown leaves fluttered here and there, while the blustery gusts of cold air told everyone that winter was not far away. Ever since Flame's death nothing really happened, people just sort of moved on.

Marcus, Matt, Babylon, and Echo left one month after Flame's death to go report their success back to their headquarters, some more reluctantly than others. Marcus and the professor set up COMS between the ship and the lab where they can contact each other freely. They all promised to come back some time when they had a chance.

Ignitus had admitted to having a slight crush on Babylon who returned his love. When she left with Marcus she gave him a departing gift the day before but Ignitus never told anyone what it was, and gets red when ever the subject comes up.

Hunter and Bianca had just announced that they were getting married and have been engaged for two weeks now. They hope to have their wedding near Christmas, just the right time of the year.

Elora returned to her spunky self and is usually seen pulling pranks and teasing the crap out of her friends.

Ripto returned to his fortress and vowed never to raise a hand against Spyro again, he now sometimes comes around to say hello now and again but is really quite distant from everyone.

Vice and his crew disappeared after their defeat up by where the meteor was and escaped the from planet.

Cynder disappeared after the attack and has never been seen since. Some think she is dead, others think she escaped and now lives in isolation. Who can tell?

Spyro, as always, is running here on there on errands and quest that the elders give him. He never told Ember about loving her in respect for her and for his deceased friend Flame. Ever since Ripto turned good he has been quite bored lately.

Ember finally had gotten over Flame's tragic death and now lives the normal happy life she did before. She can sometimes be seen sitting in front of the memorial for Flame that stands out side the town gates. She never has pursued her love for Spyro as respect to Flame, who she says she will love no one but him.

The memorial for Flame is a fifteen foot tall marble statue of him welcoming all into the gates. The plaque on it has a poem that reads:

_As day fades to night,_

_And the sun goes away_

_Flames shoot through the sky,_

_Making us all wonder why?_

_So young, so brave,_

_He name is here to stay!_

_Flame, the tragic hero,_

_For whom none thought he was a zero._

_Sacrificing his own life,_

_So that we could escape eternal strife._

"Sir…the attack failed, it was stopped by a dragon named Flame," a figure clothed in a grey robe spoke. "It seems though, that he died later on down on his planet, but…he definitely stopped the meteor with help from the Federation," A man wearing a large grey cape that was adorned with garnet jewels got off of his throne and walked over to the computer. He reached for his sword, a long, shining blade made entirely of a falling star. It had a hilt of silver with a large black diamond on the center. Its handle was leather and its scabbard was dragon hide. He swung it with a mighty force instantly killing the one who had spoke. He wiped the blade clear of blood and turned to the two hundred people in front of him.

"This is what happens when we fail, our master will not accept this," He yelled shaking his large metal gauntlets at them. "Now I suggest you find a way to change these results or it will be your heads!" He slammed his hand down, breaking the computer into shards of plastic. At this signal they all rushed to their stations. He sat back down and smiled. It would soon be completed, and then nothingness would engulf the universe, creating the empire that his master strived for.

"I'm coming, Wake never fails,"


End file.
